SHANGHAI, May 11 (SMM) – LME lead opened at USD 2,084/mt Friday night and dipped to USD 2,068.5/mt on China’s soft trade data. LME lead touched a high of USD 2,098/mt during European trading hours and closed down USD 28.5/mt at USD 2,048.5/mt. Trading volumes rose 45 to 5,033 lots and positions climbed 60 to 153,739. LME lead stocks decreased 1,375 to 163,150 mt.
SHFE 1507 lead found support at RMB 13,450/mt and started Friday evening session at RMB 13,520/mt. Then the contract moved higher to RMB 13,630/mt and finished down RMB 10/mt at RMB 13,460/mt.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Sunday announced that it will cut the benchmark deposit and loan interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 2.25% and 5.1% respectively starting May 11, to adjust and upgrade economic structure and adapt to changes in economic fundamentals. April CPI increased 1.5% versus April 2014, below expectation.
Russian President Putin and China President Xi Jinping witnessed 32 signed contracts, including a RUB 300 billion loan for construction of a high-speed railway.
US April nonfarm payroll data rose 223,000, a little lower than expectation 228,000. But unemployment rate slipped to 5.4%, a 7-year low. US dollar index dropped first and later rebounded to end at 94.77.
Gold prices remained unchanged. European and US stocks all climbed. LME base metals diverged.
LME lead may move at USD 2,030-2070/mt on Monday. SHFE 1507 lead should hover between RMB 13,420-13,550/mt and spot lead RMB 13,550-13,700/mt.