SHANGHAI, Feb. 1 (SMM) – LME aluminum for three-month delivery opened at USD 2,280/mt and hit USD 2,310/mt supported by gains in oil prices during initial trading on Tuesday. The metal dropped and closed down 1.15% at USD 2,248/mt, however, after US home and manufacturing data came out missing expectations and causing more worries towards US economic recovery. Latest LME aluminum stocks dropped 2,050 mt to 4.99 million mt.

The US dollar index standing steady above 79 has been weighing on aluminum markets. SMM expects LME aluminum to struggle at the 10-day moving average and move between USD 2,200-2,270/mt during today’s trading. The most active SHFE aluminum contract for delivery in April is expected to dip to RMB 16,200/mt and move between RMB 16,200-16,310/mt. In the face of weak downstream demand and wide discounts, traders’ deals were mainly arbitrages in futures and spot markets. SMM expects spot discounts over the SHFE current-month aluminum price to stay between RMB 100-160/mt today.