SHANGHAI, May 19 (SMM) – LME lead started at USD 1,981.5/mt during Asian trading hours and touched USD 2,003/mt. But during European trading hours, LME lead dropped due to Greece debt crisis and growing US dollar index, to dip a low of USD 1,964/mt. LME lead finally finished down USD 15.5/mt. Trading volumes rose 298 to 3,739 lots while positions dropped 2,310 to 154,807. Stocks for LME lead were 162,775 mt.

SHFE 1507 lead opened Monday evening trading session at RMB 13,385/mt and moved higher to RMB 13,500/mt. But then the contract met resistance to fall back and finally ended down RMB 25/mt at RMB 13,350/mt.

Major reports were absent yesterday, throwing investors into cautious sentiment. Worries about Greece debt crisis grew. Some news reported that Greece financial system may use capitals up in several weeks but there still exists disagreement between Greek government and its creditors. Some economists forecasts that some banks may bankrupt in three weeks, pushing euro down to 1.14% and bolstering US dollar. Meanwhile, Greece bonds slipped. US NAHB’s May housing market index was 54, falling short of preliminary value and expectation. Latest reports show that US Q1 economy growth may be near 1.8%, much better than previous estimate of 0.2%, boding well for US dollar.

China’s April home sales of 70 big and medium sized cities rose 0.3% on the month, ending a straight 11-month drop. But home prices in different cities diverged, weighing A-share down 0.58%.

Jiangsu succeeded to release the first local debt of RMB 52.2 billion today. But investors believed that non-market factor dominated the local debt release, featuring large scale, low interest rate and poor liquidity.

US dollar index surged 0.97% while euro dropped 1.14%. European and US stocks climbed across the board. Asian-Pacific stocks were mixed. LME base metals diverged with aluminum falling a lot.

LME lead should move between USD 1,940-1,980/mt. SHFE 1507 lead is expected to hover between RMB 13,280-13,430/mt and spot lead RMB 13,600-13,750/mt.