US dollar weakens, metals generally rise; SHFE nickel gains nearly 2%, with polysilicon, silicon metal, SHFE silver, and SHFE tin leading the gains [SMM Midday Review]

SMM June 26 news:

Metal market:

By midday close, base metals in the domestic market all rose, with SHFE nickel up 1.96%. SHFE copper gained 0.47%, SHFE aluminum increased 0.39%. SHFE zinc rose 0.84%, SHFE tin climbed 1.58%. SHFE lead advanced 0.53%.

Additionally, the most-traded cast aluminum futures contract rose 0.48%, alumina futures gained 0.72%. Lithium carbonate increased 0.59%, silicon metal jumped 2.26%, polysilicon surged 2.63%.

Ferrous metals series showed mixed performance, iron ore fell 0.36%, rebar declined 0.47%, HRC dropped 0.36%. Stainless steel rose 1.28%. For coking coal and coke: coking coal gained 1.45%, coke advanced 0.58%.

In overseas markets, as of 11:43, LME metals nearly all rose, with LME copper up 0.54%, LME nickel gained 0.9%. LME zinc increased 0.74%. LME tin fell 0.28%. LME lead rose 0.64%, LME aluminum edged up 0.2%.

For precious metals, as of 11:43, COMEX gold rose 0.28%, COMEX silver gained 0.61%. Domestically, SHFE gold increased 0.56%, SHFE silver jumped 1.65%.

By midday close, the most-traded European container shipping futures contract rose 1.94% to 1,772 points.

As of 11:43 June 26, some futures midday quotes:

》June 26 SMM metal spot prices

Spot and fundamentals

Zinc:Today, mainstream transaction prices for 0# zinc concentrated at 22,290-22,390 yuan/mt, Shuangyan traded at 22,380-22,530 yuan/mt, 1# zinc mainstream transactions at 22,220-22,320 yuan/mt. Early session market quoted premiums of 40-50 yuan/mt against average prices, with no against-contract quotes...》Click for details

Macro front

Domestic:

[NDRC: Third batch of trade-in policy funds to be allocated in July]Li Chao, deputy director of the Policy Research Office at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), stated at the NDRC's June press conference held this morning that the third batch of consumer goods trade-in policy funds for this year will be allocated in July. Meanwhile, the NDRC will coordinate relevant parties to adhere to the principles of greater emphasis on sustainability and balance, formulating monthly and weekly national subsidy fund utilization plans by sector to ensure orderly implementation of the trade-in policy throughout the year. Li Chao introduced that recently the NDRC jointly issued an action plan with relevant departments to expand work relief programs and promote employment and income growth for key groups. Through this incremental policy, further assistance will be provided to disadvantaged groups. Since November last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, has allocated RMB 16.5 billion in central special investment for work-relief programs in 2025, supporting over 3,900 local work-relief projects. It is expected to address the employment and income increase issues for 380,000 people in need. On this basis, the current action plan proposes to add a batch of central budgetary investment projects to support regions with a relatively high concentration of key groups.

[NDRC: The power supply and demand situation during this year's peak summer season is better than last year, with overall assurance for the national power supply and demand balance] Li Chao, Deputy Director of the Policy Research Office of the NDRC, stated that summer is the peak period for annual electricity load, and the key to energy supply assurance lies in electricity. It is expected that during this year's peak summer season, the national peak electricity load will increase by approximately 100 million kW on a YoY basis. In response to this situation, the NDRC has collaborated with relevant parties to focus on power supply assurance, adopting a series of measures and making early arrangements to provide strong support for power supply assurance during this year's peak summer season. Li Chao stated that based on the current situation, the power supply and demand situation during this year's peak summer season is better than last year, with overall assurance for the national power supply and demand balance.

[PBOC's open market operations net injected RMB 305.8 billion today] The PBOC conducted RMB 509.3 billion in 7-day reverse repo operations today. As RMB 203.5 billion in 7-day reverse repo operations matured today, a net injection of RMB 305.8 billion was realized on the day.

► The central parity rate of the RMB against the US dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market on June 26 was 7.1620 RMB per US dollar.

US dollar:

As of 11:43 a.m., the US dollar index fell by 0.29% to 97.41. Fed Chairman Powell told the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday that the Trump administration's tariff plans would most likely only lead to a one-time increase in prices, but the risk of triggering more persistent inflation is significant enough to keep the Fed cautious when considering further interest rate cuts. The market is awaiting the release of US gross domestic product (GDP) data later in the day and the US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index on Friday. The market currently expects the Fed to cut interest rates by 64 basis points before the end of this year.

Data:

Today, the final values of the annualized quarterly rate of real GDP for the US Q1, the quarterly rate of the GDP price index for the US Q1, the annualized quarterly rate of the core PCE price index for the US Q1, the annualized quarterly rate of consumer spending for the US Q1, the quarterly rate of the implicit GDP deflator for the US Q1 - seasonally adjusted final value, the preliminary monthly rate of durable goods orders for the US in May, the initial jobless claims for the week ending June 21 in the US, the preliminary monthly rate of wholesale inventories for the US in May, the monthly rate of the seasonally adjusted existing home sales index for the US in May, the CBI retail sales balance for the UK in June, and the Gfk consumer confidence index for Germany in July, among other data, will be released. Additionally, Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, will deliver a keynote speech at the British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference.

Crude oil update:

Both WTI and Brent crude oil futures rose slightly. As of 11:43, WTI crude oil was up 0.29%, and Brent crude oil was up 0.33%. The decline in US crude oil inventories, which was greater than expected, indicated strong demand, supporting oil prices. Meanwhile, the market remained cautious about the Iran-Israel ceasefire and stability in the Middle East.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that US crude oil, gasoline, and distillate fuel inventories fell last week due to increased refining activity and demand. The EIA stated that crude oil inventories decreased by 5.8 million barrels to 415.1 million barrels for the week ending June 20, exceeding analysts' expectations of a 797,000-barrel decline. US gasoline inventories unexpectedly fell by 2.1 million barrels to 227.9 million barrels for the same week, while analysts had expected an increase of 381,000 barrels. Distillate fuel inventories, including diesel and heating oil, decreased by 4.1 million barrels to 105.3 million barrels, compared to analysts' expectations of a 410,000-barrel increase.

Igor Sechin, CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft, stated that the OPEC group, comprising major global oil producers, may advance its production increase plan by about a year from the original schedule. (Webstock Inc.)

Spot market overview:

►Copper prices rose amid weak demand, with the market remaining sluggish [SMM North China Spot Copper]

►Shanghai zinc: Entering a new long-term contract cycle, premiums continue to weaken [SMM Midday Review]

►Ningbo zinc: Traders are indifferent in selling, with poor transaction performance [SMM Midday Review]

►[SMM Nickel Midday Review] Nickel prices rose sharply on June 26, as stimulus measures introduced by the central bank and other departments boosted market confidence

►[SMM HRC Weekly Balance] HRC production continues to rise, with total inventory ending its decline and starting to increase this week

Midday reviews of other metal spot markets will be updated later. Please refresh to view.