SHANGHAI, Mar 3 — LME copper closed at $8,926/mt in overnight trading, a drop of 2.21%. Trading volume was 21,000 lots and open interest stood at 248,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2304 copper contract finished at 69,410 yuan/mt overnight, down 0.8%. Trading volume was 47,000 lots, and open interest stood at 150,000 lots.
On the macro front, the US jobless claims data showed that the US job market is still strong, but there are also data showing that labour costs are still increasing. The market expects the Fed will continue to raise interest rates to curb inflation, and the US dollar index is higher, weighing down copper prices. In terms of fundamentals, import losses were around 1,000 yuan/mt, and smelters were exporting cargoes. As a result, the supply of tradable goods in the spot market in east China is slightly tight, and prices have risen accordingly. Due to the market's concerns about the tight supply, buying interest has increased. When the copper price fell at the beginning of the week, many downstream buyers replenished their stocks, and the transaction became light as the copper price rebounded.
In terms of consumption, according to some copper rod factories, downstream demand has recovered slightly. Copper prices fell due to expectations over interest rate hike by the Fed.
