SMM Evening Comments (Jan 15)

SHANGHAI, Jan 15 (SMM)－ Nonferrous metals futures on the SHFE saw mixed trading on Monday with copper closing with 0.57% rise and nickel up 0.42%. While zinc and aluminium edged up slightly, lead dropped 0.49% and tin slipped 0.3%.

The ferrous complex was weaker as iron ore and coking coal dropped around 2% and coke dropped 1.5%. Both hot-rolled coil and rebar were also down slightly.

Copper: SHFE copper saw a rather strong upward momentum today and is expected to trade at around the 55,000 yuan/mt level tonight.

Aluminium: Aluminium price has limited upward or downward momentum while fundamentals are expected to weaken with newly-increased capacity and less downstream demand. The price is expected to keep rangebound in the short term considering strong tendency of LME.

Nickel: An inflow of 170 million yuan of fund supported SHFE nickel today and the contract is set to be rangebound at high levels tonight.

Tin: SHFE tin finished below the five-day and 10-day moving averages but support is seen at 144,000 yuan/mt. It is expected to move under pressure as bulls took profits and cut their positions.

Zinc: SHFE zinc set a 10-year high today following the movement of its western counterpart. However, sluggish domestic demand and increasing inventory are set to kept longs cautious.

Lead: Support is seen at the 40-day moving average for the SHFE contract, which may move upward tonight following the lead of LME lead. 

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