Overnight, LME zinc opened at $2454/mt, hitting a low and high of $2454/mt and $2525/mt respectively, and closed at $2483/mt, up $44/mt or 1.80%. Trading volume increased to 13071 lots, and open interest grew 2797 lots to 205,000 lots. LME zinc inventory dropped by 1025 mt or 0.49% to 210050 mt. U.S. retail sales in November recorded 0.3%, a new high since September this year, indicating that the U.S. economy maintains a moderate growth trend and concerns about economic recession have weakened. The number of initial jobless claims in the United States in the week ending December 9 was 202,000, lower than market expectations. The data showed the resilience of the U.S. economy, and the U.S. dollar index fell accordingly.
The most-traded SHFE 2402 zinc contract opened at 20820 yuan/mt overnight and fell to 20690 yuan/mt before rallying to a peak of 20910 yuan/mt. It eventually settled at 20785 yuan/mt, up 150 yuan/mt or 0.73%. Trading volume grew to 55996 lots, and open interest gained by 525 lots to 73966 lots. Beijing and Shanghai once again took action to comprehensively loosen the control policies of the property market, which may drive the growth of real estate market demand. However, China's economy is expected to be weak in November, and sluggish demand will affect consumption. The supply of zinc ingots remains at a high level.
