SMM Evening Comments (Apr 24)

Published: Apr 24, 2018 18:20 (GMT+8)

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SMM Evening Comments

SHANGHAI, Apr 24 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals fell across the board on Tuesday April 24, as SHFE aluminium led with a loss of 3.69%. SHFE nickel and tin dropped over 1%, copper and lead edged down slightly while zinc dipped.

The ferrous complex notched a strong performance except for iron ore. Coking coal and coke rose over 2%, rebar went up over 1% and hot-rolled coil gained 0.77%.

Copper: The SHFE 1806 contract traded above the daily moving average during the day. It rose as longs added their positions and came off as shorts and longs reduced their positions. Longs significantly cut their positions as their confidence was curtailed by macroeconomic developments such as the US easing its stance on sanctions on Rusal. Technically, it struggled among several moving averages and stood above the middle Bollinger Band with firm support at the 51,000 yuan/mt level. We expect the contract to trade rangebound tonight.

Aluminium: As the US eased sanctions on Russia overnight, the SHFE 1806 contract traded rangebound at 14,360-14,545 yuan/mt during the day. Inventors should monitor the development of the US-Sino trade war and prices of LME aluminium tonight. We see the contract testing support at 60-day moving average tonight.

Zinc: The SHFE 1806 contract hovered within a broad range and closed lower from the previous day as most LME base metals weakened in the afternoon. The contract is likely to trade rangebound below 24,500 yuan/mt tonight.

Nickel: As the US dollar gained, the SHFE 1807 contract fell after it rose during the day. It lost support from the day's moving averages to close at 103,330 yuan/mt. We see it trading weakly between moving averages tonight. Investors will take more cues from data of the US' new home sales in March and the Consumer Board Consumer Confidence Index in April.

Lead: The SHFE 1806 contract fell from a high of 18,415 yuan/mt and closed slightly lower as most base metals weakened today. We see it trading rangebound with possible upward room tonight. Investors will take guidance from LME lead tonight.

Tin: SHFE tin met pressure at 146,900 yuan/mt in the morning and dipped further in the afternoon to close at 146,290 yuan/mt. Technically, it is likely to face continuous pressure from shorts.

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