SHFE zinc prices lacked upward momentum due to cautious downstream purchasing [SMM zinc morning comment]

LME zinc opened at $2711/mt overnight, touching a high and a low of $2795/mt and $2678/mt respectively. LME zinc rallied and closed up $40/mt or 1.48% at $2751/mt. The trading volume decreased to 20369 lots, and open interest lost 2369 lots to 248,000 lots. LME zinc inventory dropped by 1000 or 0.38% to 258925 mt.

The most-traded SHFE 2406 zinc contract opened at 22595 yuan/mt overnight and fell to 22265 yuan/mt before rallying to a peak of 22795 yuan/mt. It eventually settled at 22790 yuan/mt, up 130 yuan/mt or 0.57%. Trading volume reduced to 140,000 mt lots, and open interest gained by 5567 lots to 113,000 lots.