SHANGHAI, Oct. 25 (SMM) – The most active aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) started RMB 490/mt lower at RMB 51,780/mt on Thursday, weighed down by falling LME copper overnight. The red metal was pushed higher by better-than-expected HSBC’s flash China manufacturing PMI, but still met resistance at RMB 51,870/mt. In the afternoon session, SHFE 1401 copper contract followed LME copper below the daily moving average to an intraday low of RMB 51,430/mt, dragged down by falling Shanghai Composite Index. SHFE copper for January delivery recovered some losses at the tail of the session due to short sellers closing positions, but still finished the day down RMB 540/mt or 1.03% at RMB 51,730/mt. Trading volumes and positions of SHFE 1401 copper contract were up 78,944 lots and 3,364 lots, respectively, while trading volumes and positions of SHFE 1402 copper contract also increased by 30,444 lots and 14,354 lots, respectively.