Today, the most-traded BC copper contract opened at 70,650 yuan/mt and closed higher. In the night session, it opened at 70,530 yuan/mt, touched the low, and then fluctuated rangebound at low levels. After the day session opened, copper prices rose, approaching a high of 70,990 yuan/mt near the close, and finally settled at 70,810 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt, a gain of 0.07%. Open interest fell to 4,498 lots, down 21 lots from the previous trading day. Trading volume dropped to 3,266 lots, down 2,534 lots from the previous trading day. On the macro front, the US reported a significant pullback in initial jobless claims to 231,000, the largest decline in nearly four years, supporting a higher close for the US dollar index. In addition, due to market concerns over a crude oil supply surplus and weak fuel demand in the US, international crude oil extended its decline, weighing on copper prices. On the fundamentals, imported supply remained stable, while domestic supply was tight, leading to an overall tightening of supply. On the demand side, downstream purchases recovered slightly despite the drop in copper prices, providing support for copper prices from the fundamentals.
SHFE copper contract cu2510 settled at 79,910 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper contract bc2510 at 70,810 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 80,015 yuan/mt. The price spread between SHFE copper contract cu2510 and the BC copper contract was -105 yuan/mt, remaining inverted and narrowing.
