Overseas inventories continued to decline, LME lead and SHFE lead diverged [SMM Lead Morning Comment]

Overnight, LME lead opened at $2335/mt. During the Asian session, LME lead was dragged down by the decline in SHFE lead, fluctuating and falling to around $2320/mt. Entering the European session, LME lead inventories continued to decline, and LME lead resumed its upward trend, reaching a high of $2353.5/mt, a new high since May 6, 2022. By the night session, both longs and shorts took profits, causing LME lead to give back some gains, ultimately closing at $2329/mt, down 0.13%, ending a six-day winning streak.

Overnight, SHFE lead warrant inventories continued to decline by over 4,000 tons. The most active SHFE 2407 lead contract opened at 18,730 yuan/mt, reaching a low of 18,495 yuan/mt. It finally closed at 18,565 yuan/mt, down 1.77%, with open interest at 80,303 lots, a decrease of 1,567 lots from the previous trading day.