SMM Morning Review - 2012/4/10 Copper Market

SHANGHAI, Apr. 10 (SMM)–LME copper market resumed trading this morning. As market investors absorbed the US nonfarm payrolls last Friday, LME copper prices directly tested a low at USD 8,220/mt after opening down, and then posted weak performance. China will announce trade data for March, which is expected by investors to be pessimistic. This will cap the increasing trend for LME copper prices, which thus will move weakly between USD 8,250-8,350/mt during today's Asian trading hours. Chinese stock markets will open lower, affected by the sliding US equity markets. SHFE copper prices will test support at levels near RMB 59,200/mt following a down open, and SHFE 1207 copper contract prices will fluctuate in the RMB 59,000-59,800/mt range. In spot markets, SMM believes cargo-holders will try to quote prices at premiums after SHFE copper prices fall significantly. Spot copper offers are therefore estimated between discounts of negative RMB 50/mt and premiums of positive RMB 50/mt versus SHFE current-month copper contracts.