SMM Evening Comments (Mar 16)

SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals regained some losses in this afternoon but remained weak at the end of the day. SHFE aluminium, zinc, and lead inched up, while copper, nickel, and tin dropped slightly. 

The ferrous complex saw mixed trading today as iron ore led losses with a drop over 1%. Rebar and coke edged down, while hot-rolled coil and coking coal inched up.

Copper: As investors reduced their short bets, SHFE copper rebounded slightly and hovered between the 10- and 20-day moving averages. We see it remaining rangebound tonight. The US industrial production index for February will give more guidance to the market tonight.

Aluminium: SHFE aluminium hovered around the five-day moving average as investors closed out their positions. We expect it to trade rangebound at the 14,000 yuan/mt level next week at 13,850-14,150 yuan/mt. 

Zinc: SHFE zinc inched up today and touched a high of 24,990 yuan/mt before it traded rangebound at 24,940 yuan/mt. We see it continuing to test resistance at 25,000 yuan/mt tonight. 

Nickel: SHFE nickel edged down today with support from three moving averages. We expect it to remain rangebound tonight. Investors will take cues from February’s data of the eurozone's consumer price index (CPI) and of the US industrial production.

Lead: SHFE lead rebounded to stand above the 18,500 yuan/mt level during the day, with support at the 10-day moving average. We expect it to consolidate around the 18,500 yuan/mt level tonight.

Tin: SHFE tin climbed up from lows as investors took profits and reduced their short bets. We see it trading rangebound in the short term.

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