SHANGHAI, Mar.22 (SMM) – On Monday, the US National Association of Realtors released that existing home sales in the US fell 9.6% in February 2011 to 4.88 million annualized units, the lowest level since November 2010 and larger than the expected decline of 4.0%. Besides, the February existing home sales were down 2.8% YoY in February. The depressed US home sales sparked market concerns on recovery of US home markets. In response, LME lead prices closed USD 5/mt down at USD 2,689.8/mt, but still above moving averages. Amid strong LME lead prices, market players may conduct profit-takings near USD 2,700/mt, leaving prices to fluctuate between USD 2,655-2,690/mt in the short term.  

In neighboring markets, the US dollar fell to set a new low of 75.34, finally settling at 75.468. The gold futures for April delivery closed USD 10.3 up at USD 1,426.40 per ounce; the silver futures for May delivery closed 94.3 cents up at USD 36.001 per ounce.

SMM expects transactions in domestic lead markets to be made between RMB 17,500-17,650/mt on Tuesday.   

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