SMM Aluminum Market Morning Review (2015-2-9)

SHANGHAI, Feb. 9 (SMM) – US non-farm payrolls rose 257,000, beating expectations. This rekindled concerns over possible interest rate hike in the US. The US dollar rallied as a result. Standard&Poor’s downgraded rating on Greece, pushing the euro down. LME aluminum climbed to USD 1,894/mt after opening at USD 1,882.5/mt last Friday, but then fell back to USD 1,864/mt before closing at USD 1,873/mt. Trading volumes were down 3,769 lots to 8,857 lots, with positions up 1,573 to 781,801.  

 

Last Friday night, SHFE 1504 aluminum contract drifted lower after starting at RMB 13,350/mt, and finished the night session at RMB 13,250/mt. Trading volumes totaled 17,034 lots, with positions down 2,766 to 128,524.

 

The most active SHFE aluminum contract should range RMB 13,230-13,280/mt on Monday. In China’s spot market, supply and demand should fall in tandem with the week-long holiday nearing, with spot discounts of RMB 100-140/mt expected over SHFE 1502 aluminum contract.