Copper Prices Weakened as Market Awaiting US Job Data

LME copper prices closed at $8,861.5/mt last evening, up 0.94%. Trading volume was 19,000 lots and open interest stood at 250,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2305 copper contract finished at 68,530 yuan/mt overnight, down 0.12%. Trading volume was 35,000 lots and open interest stood at 163,000 lots. On the macro front, the market is weighing how the key U.S. employment data released during the holiday break may affect the Fed's policy and will lead to market volatility. Affected by the weak economic data in the United States previously released, the market is worried about the slowdown of the economy. In terms of fundamentals, the continuous inflow of imported copper recently has had a certain impact on the spot prices in both the east China and the south China market. In addition, during the domestic Qingming Festival holiday, the non-farm data released by the United States intensified the market's concerns about economic recession, and copper prices fell sharply. However, the downstream market did not replenish a large amount of goods, lowering spot quotes. In terms of consumption, although the market optimism remains, according to the upstream and downstream industries, the overall transaction is still relatively light.