The annualized quarterly rate of U.S. GDP in the first quarter was significantly lower than expected; Goolsbee: The Federal Reserve must "readjust" its policy; Japanese media: The Bank of Japan will consider taking measures to reduce its purchases of government bonds; The Israeli Prime Minister approved the ground operation in Rafah; The Houthi armed forces seek to expand their operations in the Indian Ocean; U.S. Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Beijing; Shanghai Futures Exchange: Guard against systemic risks caused by large price fluctuations; ByteDance: There is no plan to sell TikTok.
Last evening, LME zinc prices opened at $2790/mt and went up to close at $2849.5/mt, up $55/mt or 1.97%, with the high-end of $2893.5/mt. Trading volume increased to 11156 lots, and open interest decreased 629 lots to 244,000 lots. LME zinc inventory dropped by 600 mt or 0.24% to 254500 mt. The U.S. GDP data for the first quarter was significantly lower than expected, dragging the U.S. dollar index downward. Non-ferrous metals were boosted.
The most active SHFE 2406 zinc opened at 23000 yuan/mt and rose 115 yuan/mt or 0.51% to close at 22665 yuan/mt last evening, with the high-end of 23010 yuan/mt and the low-end of 22620 yuan/mt. Trading volumes increased to 129,000 lots and open interest fell 3239 lots to 104,000 lots. Although the domestic zinc concentrate TC was lowered again to provide bottom support for zinc prices, weak consumption dragged down the trend of SHFE zinc.
