LME Lead Prices Fall amid Fed’s Interest Rate Hike Remark

SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (SMM) - Overnight, LME lead opened at $2,147/mt and fell slowly during the Asian trading hours. During the European trading hours, LME lead rose slightly to $2,152.5/mt, but then fell to $2,090/mt as the US Federal Reserve released the minutes of the FOMC meeting and a few participants agreed to raise the interest rate by 50 basis points. LME lead prices finally closed at $2,091.5/mt, a decrease of 2.56%. Open interest increased 324 lots to 103,000 lots, and trading volume declined 890 lots to 4,229 lots.

The most-traded SHFE 2304 lead contract opened at 15,445 yuan/mt and closed at 15,440 yuan/mt, up 0.16%, after briefly hitting the highest point at 15,500 yuan/mt and the lowest point at 15,415 yuan/mt. Open interest increased 28,425 lots to 56,288 lots, and trading volume declined 24,462 lots to 20,587 lots.