LME copper opened at $8,421.5/mt and closed with a gain of 0.15% at $8,468/mt overnight. Trading volume stood at 14,000 lots. Open interest stood at 280,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2310 copper contract prices opened at 69570 yuan/mt and finished at 69,640 yuan/mt overnight, up 0.49%, with the low-end of 69430 yuan/mt and the high-end of 69740 yuan/mt. Trading volume was 29,000 lots and open interest stood at 157,000 lots. On the macro front, the U.S. ADP added 177,000 new jobs in August, the smallest increase in five months and less than the expected 195,000.
In addition, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce said he hopes U.S. companies will invest in China. In terms of fundamentals, the price spread between SHFE front-month and next-month copper contract expanded, and the market was optimistic over the market in September. Tight supply in east China pushed up spot quotes. Traders were more enthusiastic about stocking up at low prices and most of the trades occurred among traders.
Copper inventories in south China have fallen for ten consecutive years, and sellers raised prices. However, downstream buying interest was weak at the end of the month, and the supply and demand were both weak. In terms of consumption, at the end of the month, companies were under financial pressure and their purchasing desire was not high. Combined with the impact of high copper prices, the overall demand was weak. In terms of price, U.S. economic data shows that U.S. inflation has been significantly alleviated, which, coupled with optimistic domestic macroeconomic sentiment will keep copper prices at high levels.
