SMM Morning Review - 2011/2/16 Lead Market

SHANGHAI, Feb. 16 (SMM) – On Tuesday, China published a YoY rise of 4.9% in January’s CPI which showed still terrible inflation although the figure was lower than expected, an indication that China may adopt more aggressive tight credit policies. In response, LME lead prices secured slight gains on Tuesday, finally closing USD 3/mt up at USD 2,648/mt. SMM expects possible tight credit policies may weigh down base metals markets, causing LME lead prices to find support after falling to USD 2,600/mt in the near term. 

In neighboring markets, the US dollar index closed slightly down at 78.564. Gold futures for April delivery closed USD 9 higher at USD 1,374.10 per ounce; silver futures for March delivery closed 16.2 cents higher at USD 30.696 per ounce.

SMM expects prices in domestic lead markets to be between RMB 17,050-17,250/mt on Wednesday.

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