SMM zinc morning comment

Last Friday, LME zinc prices opened at US$2,469.5/ton. During the European trading session, LME zinc prices trended rapidly downward and tested as low as US$2,454/ton and reached a high of US$2,485/ton, finally closing at US$2,473/ton, up US$7/ton, or 0.28%. Trading volume decreased by 2362 lots to 8048 lots, open interest increased by 2033 lots to 209,000 lots. LME zinc inventory decreased by 2075 tons to 202050 tons, a decrease of 1.02%. The one-year U.S. inflation rate is expected to be 2.9% lower than the forecast value, which is superimposed on the initial value of the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index in January of 78.8. The Fed officials' hawkish speech once again suppressed the market's interest rate cut expectations.
The most interest-traded SHFE 2403 zinc contract opened at 20700 yuan/mt last Friday before rallying to a peak of 20825 yuan/mt. It eventually settled at 20740 yuan/mt, up 25 yuan/mt or 0.12%. Trading volume decreased 55809 to 36907 lots, and open interest gained by 457 lots to 90224 lots. The decline in domestic inventories and pre-holiday stockpiling supported SHFE zinc prices.