SHANGHAI, Feb. 27 (SMM) – LME lead prices opened at USD 2,290/mt during Asian trading hours on Tuesday and fell to USD 2,275.3/mt due to the concerns over Italian election. Later, the US house price index for December was reported above forecast and previous level, while January new home sales presented the largest MoM growth in 20 years. Besides, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index also saw improvement, indicating consumers’ optimistic expectations for economic growth. Meanwhile, Bernanke's testimony to Senate Banking Committee reflected an inclination of maintaining the current asset purchases, easing market concerns over the termination of QE measures. In this context, LME lead prices returned above USD 2,300/mt and finally ended at USD 2,309/mt, up USD 14/mt. Trading volumes were up 632 lots to 5,576 lots, and positions fell 1,250 lots to around 127,000 lots. LME lead inventories increased 175 mt to 288,100 mt.

The US dollar index closed at 81.8, while COMEX silver for May delivery closed at USD 29.3/oz, up USD 0.253/oz.

On February 27, SHFE 1304 lead contract price will likely move between RMB 15,000-15,120/mt, with spot lead prices in China expected to remain at RMB 14,700-14,850/mt.