SMM Evening Comments (Mar 6)

SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading on Tuesday March 6 as SHFE copper, aluminium and nickel edged up, while SHFE zinc lost over 2%. Lead and tin both fell close to 1%.

The ferrous complex continued to weaken with iron ore slipping close to 2%. Coke and hot-rolled coil were down almost 1%, while rebar and coking coal edged down slightly.

Copper: SHFE copper touched a high at 52,740 yuan/mt today following an inflow of long positions. However, this may create downside risks tonight as investors take their profits. In the physical market, we have seen an uptick in downstream demand as sales orders recovered and supported the bullish sentiment.  

Aluminium: SHFE aluminium touched a high at 14,515 yuan/mt today following the remarks by National Development & Reform Commission vice chairman that China would continue to cut aluminium capacity. However, pressure is seen at the 14,500 yuan/mt level as no specific policy was given.

Zinc: Support is seen at the 25,300 yuan/mt level today for SHFE 1805 zinc but this may be tested tonight as LME zinc remained weak due to a surge in inventory and a low ratio of cancelled warrants.

Nickel: The SHFE 1805 nickel contract traded between the 20- and 40-day moving averages today and closed 0.22% higher. The US factory orders in January may give more guidance to the market tonight.

Tin: Investors made more short bets on SHFE tin today and the contract broke the 40-day moving average support. We expect it to stay under pressure in the short term with support at 146,000 yuan/mt.

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