Today, the most-traded BC copper 2601 contract opened at 83,130 yuan/mt. In the night session, after opening, it initially touched a high of 83,780 yuan/mt. Subsequently, as bulls increased their positions, the center of copper prices fluctuated downward throughout the session. After the day session opened, it touched a low of 82,580 yuan/mt and then fluctuated rangebound, finally closing at 83,080 yuan/mt, up 60 yuan/mt, a gain of 0.07%. Open interest reached 3,584 lots, an increase of 159 lots from the previous trading day, while trading volume reached 5,835 lots, up 177 lots from the previous session. On the macro front, based on labor market performance, Governor Waller advocated for continuing to advance interest rate cuts, as the US Fed is still weighing economic conditions against inflation in future rate decisions. On the fundamentals side, supply of imported material remained tight, while domestic arrivals were normal, leading to an overall contraction in supply. Demand side, end-use industry demand remained sluggish, with no significant boost in purchasing sentiment. Inventory side, as of Thursday, December 18, SMM nationwide copper inventories in mainstream areas increased slightly by 0.79% WoW from Monday.
SHFE copper contract 2601 closed at 92,450 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2601 contract's closing price of 83,080 yuan/mt, its post-tax price is 93,880 yuan/mt, resulting in a price spread of -1,430 yuan/mt between the SHFE copper 2601 contract and the BC copper contract. The spread remained inverted and widened compared to the previous day.
