SMM Evening Comments (Apr 9)

SHANGHAI, Apr 9 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals saw mixed trading on Monday April 9. SHFE aluminium rebounded and closed nearly 1.4% higher. Copper inched up, while zinc fell over 1% and nickel dipped almost 1%. Lead and tin were slightly down.

In the ferrous market, hot-rolled coil gained nearly 2% and rebar grew over 1%. Coke, coking coal, and iron ore edged down.

Copper: The SHFE 1805 copper contract rose along with the five-day moving average with strong support from technical indicators. We expect it to test the 50,800 yuan/mt level tonight. In addition, investors would watch out for the sharp jump of open interest in 2019 contracts.

Aluminium: Buoyed by a robust LME aluminium during the Qingming holiday, SHFE aluminium climbed up to reach a high of 14,375 yuan/mt today. As ferrous metals gained, the contract recovered after dipping to a low of 14,140 yuan/mt in the afternoon. If China’s domestic inventory continues to drop, we expect the prices to stay in an upward trend with the support of firm LME aluminium prices. 

Nickel: SHFE nickel traded under pressure from several moving averages during the day. We expect it to stay rangebound tonight.

Zinc: The SHFE 1806 zinc contract saw rangebound trading today and closed 180 yuan/mt lower at 24,355 yuan/mt. Market sentiment was bearish after three consecutive days of decline. However, we believe support is seen at 24,000 yuan/mt. We expect zinc to have an upward correction tonight.

Lead: SHFE lead registered three consecutive drops as it edged down to close at 18,555 yuan/mt today. It lost the gains accumulated over the previous week. We expect it to trade around the 18,500 yuan/mt level tonight.

Tin: We expect the SHFE 1805 contract to trade rangebound in the short term with resistance at 146,500 yuan/mt and support at 143,500 yuan/mt.

For editorial queries, please contact Daisy Tseng at daisy@smm.cn 
For more information on how to access our research reports, please email service.en@smm.cn