SMM Evening Comments (Feb 15): Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Closed Mostly with Losses on Firm US Dollar

SHANGHAI, Feb 15 (SMM) – Shanghai nonferrous metals closed mostly with losses in day trading. The unadjusted US CPI for January stood at 6.4% on an annualised basis, against a previous value of 6.5% and a forecast of 6.2%. The US dollar, however, bottomed out in day trading, curbing the gains of metals.

Tonight, the US will release the monthly rate of January retail sales. Fears over an economic recession will abate if the reading is as good as expected.

SHFE copper added 0.18%, aluminium lost 1.29%, lead fell 0.23%, zinc shed 0.85%, tin dropped 0.66%, and nickel slid 2.04%.

Copper: The most-traded SHFE 2303 copper closed up 0.18% or 120 yuan/mt at 68,640 yuan/mt, with open interest down 1,033 lots to 145,118 lots.

In the spot market, the cargo holders quoted against SHFE 2303 contract, and the traders raised the premiums in morning trade when the downstream players stood on the sidelines. Some traders purchased on dips.

Aluminium: The most-traded SHFE 2303 aluminium closed down 1.29% or 240 yuan/mt at 18,315 yuan/mt, with open interest up 4,654 lots to 175,996 lots.

On the fundamentals, the long-awaited output reduction has not been enforced. And the social inventory has kept rising. The market is waiting to see when the demand will show strong recovery. It is expected that aluminium prices will remain rangebound in the short term.

Lead: The most-traded SHFE 2303 lead closed down 0.23% or 35 yuan/mt at 15,230 yuan/mt, with open interest up 1,282 lots to 58,458 lots.

Spot cargos circulating in the spot market were limited as SHFE 2302 was delivered today. Downstream players still purchased on rigid demand, and the transactions did not improve significantly.

Zinc: The most-traded SHFE 2303 zinc closed down 0.85% or 195 yuan/mt at 22,860 yuan/mt, with open interest down 27 lots to 81,494 lots.

Market transactions were muted today, and some traders lowered the spot quotations to promote the sales. Nonetheless, the spot prices changed little as a whole.

Tin: The most-traded SHFE 2303 tin closed down 3.13% or 6,790 yuan/mt at 210,350 yuan/mt, with open interest up 7,227 lots to 56,250 lots.

Nickel: The most-traded SHFE 2303 nickel closed down 0.75% or 1,540 yuan/mt at 205,060 yuan/mt, with open interest up 2,464 lots to 63,530 lots.

In the spot market, Jinchuan nickel was in premiums of 7,500-7,800 yuan/mt, with an average of 7,650 yuan/mt, flat from a day ago. NORNICKEL nickel was in premiums of 5,200-5,500 yuan/mt, with an average of 5,350 yuan/mt, flat. Upstream players were less active in making shipments as SHFE nickel rebounded in morning trade, and downstream inquiries also weakened. For nickel briquette, the prices stood between 211,000-212,000 yuan/mt, up 2,200 yuan/mt on a daily basis.

[Disclaimer: The above representation and data is based on market information SMM believes to be reliable at the time of acquiring as well as the comprehensive assessment by SMM research team, and any and all information provided in this article is for reference only. This article does not constitute a direct recommendation for investment or any decisions in any form and clients shall act on their own discreet and any decisions made by clients are not within the responsibility of SMM.]