SMM Lead Market Morning Review (2015-7-1)

SHANGHAI, Jul. 1 (SMM) – During Asian trading hours, LME lead opened at USD 1,779/mt and dived to USD 1,747/mt as Greece announced that it will not pay debts to IMF and as London metals faced sell-off pressures. The metal closed at USD 1,760.5/mt, falling USD 25.5/mt. Trading volumes increased 1,122 to 4,883 lots with positions up 91 to 138,355. LME lead inventories fell 1,275 to 175,025.

SHFE 1508 lead moved around RMB 12,600/mt after starting Tuesday evening session at RMB 12,795/mt. The price rebounded slightly with some longs entering market, to close down RMB 120/mt at RMB 12,680/mt.

Greece failed to repay the EUR 1.55 billion to IMF. Greece prime minister applied for a two-year extension for bailout to European Stability Mechanism to meet its financial demand. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced a referendum as to the new austerity measures was due July 5, and this will decide whether Greece will remain in the eurozone. Besides, eurozone inflation rate in June weakened further, pushing the EUR:USD down 0.81%.

Chicago PMI in June rose 3.2 to 49.4. New orders index increased 8.8 in June. Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index shows US home prices rose 1.1% in April, with prices in all the 20 cities tracked up.

China has taken measures after the slump in domestic stocks markets. The NDRC also accelerated infrastructure construction to stimulate market confidence.

Crude oil prices surged 1.95%, and London gold plummeted 0.64%. US stocks closed with gains whilst European stocks dropped. LME base metals prices were mixed. LME nickel prices stopped falling.

LME lead may move in a range of USD 1,745-1,785/mt today. SHFE 1508 lead should hover between RMB 12,630-12,780/mt with support at RMB 12,650/mt. Chinese spot lead is expected to be in RMB 13,100-13,200/mt.