SMM Evening Comments (Mar 15)

SHANGHAI, Mar 15 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals slid across the board today as zinc led losses with a drop of more than 1%. Nickel fell 0.8%, tin dipped 0.7% and copper edged down.

The ferrous complex saw some gains today as coking coal rose 1.6%. Rebar, hot-rolled coil, and iron ore gained over 1%, and coke inched up.

Copper: The SHFE 1805 contract slumped after it reached a high of 52,400 yuan/mt today. The support level stood at 52,000 yuan/mt and we expect prices to remain rangebound in the short term. The US' manufacturing index for March will give more guidance to the market tonight.

Aluminium: As costs decline and inventories accumulate, SHFE aluminium faces pressure in the short term and is set to test support at 14,000 yuan/mt tonight. In the medium term, we should monitor downstream demand as it recovers. Recovery is likely to surge in early April.

Zinc: SHFE zinc stablised from a slump. Support was limited as consumption recovery was weak on environmental concerns. We expect it to lose support from the five-day moving average and trade below 25,000 yuan/mt.

Nickel: With pressure from shorts and a stronger US dollar, the SHFE 1805 contract slumped to a low of 102,640 yuan/mt today. We expect it to test support at low-level moving averages. Tonight, investors will take cues from the US unemployment claims for the week ended March 10.

Lead: SHFE lead saw slight gains with support from the five-day moving average. We expect it to test pressure at the 10-day moving average.

Tin: Tin continued to weaken with support at the 143,500 yuan/mt level today, and is expected to remain weak in the short term.

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