SHANGHAI, Jun. 1 (SMM) – As LME copper fluctuated feebly overnight, the most active SHFE copper contract for September delivery started RMB 50/mt lower at RMB 54,400/mt Friday. The contract fell abruptly immediately following the opening as China's PMI released by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing was lower than expected, but then rose to hover around RMB 54,500/mt after gaining buying support at RMB 54,210/mt. The contract reached an intraday high at RMB 54,730/mt. However, owing to large-scale position closings at the tail of trading, SHFE 1209 copper contract finally reversed early gains before closing RMB 120/mt or 0.22% down at RMB 54,330/mt, with trading volumes and positions increasing by 39,292 lots and 5,652 lots, respectively. Long and short investors held divergent view during the day but both of them opted to leave the market for risk aversion before the weekends. Total positions for all SHFE copper contracts increased sharply by 11,762 lots during the first trading day of June, and total trading volumes also added by 17,748 lots. This spells SHFE copper prices will suffer more selling pressures from short investors and search support at lower price levels for the foreseeable future.