SMM Evening Comments (Jan 31)

SHANGHAI, Jan 31 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures fell across the board on Wednesday as SHFE nickel led the loss with over 2% drop. Both lead and aluminium were down some 1%, while zinc and tin slipped.

In the ferrous complex, coking coal went back up in the afternoon while coke and iron ore were down some 1%. Hot-rolled coil and rebar edged down slightly.

Copper: The SHFE 1803 copper contract stood above 53,000 yuan/mt today with investors adding long bets and squaring short positions. We expect it to stay rangebound in the short term as the market watches out for the US ADP employment report for January tonight.

Aluminium: Aluminium-related stocks fell sharply on Wednesday January 31 as bearish sentiment dominated the market. The SHFE contract also saw investors square their long positions. We maintain our view that aluminium would stay weak in the short term. 

Nickel: SHFE nickel was under pressure today as open interest was reduced by 50,000 lots amid an outflow of 465 million yuan. The support at the 10-day moving average would be tested tonight.

Tin: We expect SHFE tin to be rangebound at the 150,000 yuan/mt level in the short term.

Zinc: The bullish sentiment became weaker with more outflows of fund. We expect SHFE zinc to be rangebound at current levels tonight. 

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