SHANGHAI, Feb. 3 (SMM) –As LME copper prices pared losses overnight, SHFE 1204 copper contract prices, the most active one, opened RMB 190/mt higher at RMB 60,000/mt Thursday. After the opening, SHFE three-month copper contract prices still suffered selling pressures from short investors at above RMB 60,000/mt, and therefore slipped rapidly after fluctuating around the price mark briefly. In the afternoon session, as Chinese stock markets stood steadily at 2,300 points and closed 2% higher, SHFE three-month copper contract prices gained support at around the 10-day moving average of RMB 59,500/mt, and rallied to around RMB 60,000/mt at the tail of trading, with an intraday low at RMB 59,520/mt. Finally, SHFE 1204 copper contract prices closed at RMB 59,880/mt, up RMB 70/mt or 0.12%. Positions for SHFE 1204 copper contracts were down 3,720 lots, while trading volumes were up 32,168 lots. SHFE copper prices were likely to remain weak due to the weakening bullish sentiment.

In the spot market, as SHFE copper prices continued to move lower after a high open, cargo-holders were reluctant to trade at prevailing discounts. Besides, copper importers became unwilling to move goods owing to the falling SHFE/LME copper price ratio, while domestic suppliers, especially standard-quality copper suppliers, also refused to offer big discounts given no cash flow pressures. In this context, spot copper supply decreased, and quotations for copper discounts fell slightly to between negative RMB 350-200/mt in the morning business. Traded prices for standard-quality copper were between RMB 58,700-58,900/mt, and RMB 58,800-59,100/mt for high-quality copper. Traders lacked interest in buying due to no speculative room, while downstream producers stuck to the sidelines since SHFE copper prices just fell slightly, resulting in limited market transactions in the morning session. In the afternoon business, as SHFE copper prices rallied from the lows, mainstream quotations for spot copper discounts increased to between negative RMB 350-200/mt, but traded prices were basically unchanged from the morning business levels.