SHANGHAI, Jan. 16 (SMM) – LME lead overnight surged above USD 1,800/mt at one point due to technical correction, but later fell again to close up only USD 9.75/mt at USD 1,768.75/mt against tumbling crude prices on Thursday. Trading volumes for three-month lead on the London Metal Exchange decreased 3,773 lots to 4,316 lots, but positions gained 2,226 to 122,438. LME lead inventories remained unchanged at 215,825 mt on Thursday.

Lead for March delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most active contract, started Thursday’s night session at RMB 12,200/mt and soared almost RMB 400/mt at one stage before ending up RMB 225/mt at RMB 12,230/mt. Trading volumes for the SHFE 1503 lead contract totaled 13,956 lots, while positions shed 2,592 to 22,328.

The Swiss National Bank surprised markets by removing the 1.20 francs per euro cap that had been in place for three and a half years on Thursday. The bank also announced to impose a negative overnight deposit rate in a bid to dent the appeal of the Swiss franc. Shortly after the announcement, the franc surged 15.89% versus euro, 14.69% versus the US dollar, and over 20% versus a basket of other currencies.

COMEX gold closed up 2.5% at USD 1,264.80/oz as investors moved to the gold market for risk aversion on Thursday. Oil prices rallied over 8% at one point, but later dropped again to end down 4.6% at USD 46.25/bbl.

Swiss stocks tumbled 8.67% on Thursday, the biggest daily fall since 1989 and erasing almost USD 100 billion in market value. European stocks, however, finished up 2.6%. US stocks ended lower, down for a fifth straight trading day, with banking shares taking the brunt of the volatile franc.

US initial jobless claims for the week ending January 10 increased 19,000 to 316,000, the highest since early September and well above 291,000 expected. Jobless claims for the week ending January 3 were revised up from 294,000 to 297,000. The country’s producer price index (PPI) slid 0.3% MoM in December, the sharpest decline since October 2011, due in large part to declines in energy prices. However, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose from 43.6 to 45.4 in the week ending Jan 11, the highest reading since July 2007. Plummeting oil prices and increased employment both helped boost Americans’ confidence in the economic outlook.

LME base metals diverged fractionally, with nickel ending a bit lower.

LME lead is set to hover at USD 1,750-1,780/mt , while the most active SHFE 1503 lead contract is expected to move at RMB 12,130-12,330/mt on Friday. Spot lead in China should trade at RMB 12,350-12,500/mt.