Posted on 05 Jun 2023
Over May 29-June 2, the most-traded copper, aluminum and nickel futures contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) had all posted on-week gains, the exchange's data shows, mainly reflecting the improved market sentiment, observers suggested.
On Friday, the SHFE's most-traded aluminum contract for July delivery closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 18,480/tonne ($2,610.9/t), higher by Yuan 620/t from the previous Friday's settlement price. Meanwhile, the July nickel contract also jumped by Yuan 1,830/t on week to close at Yuan 163,060/t.
The same day, the exchange's copper contract for July delivery soared by Yuan 2,350/t on week to end the day at Yuan 66,250/t.
Pessimistic sentiment in the global economy was eased to some extent during the week, market analysts pointed out, due to the settlement in Washington of the U.S. debt ceiling crisis and the weakening dollar index.
Earlier on Wednesday too, leading U.S. Federal Reserve officials had telegraphed strong signals that the Fed was likely to "skip" an interest rate hike at the next meeting this month, news that helped China's nonferrous market gain some upward momentum, with the major metals futures prices all going north.
Similarly in London, by June 1 the three-month contracts of copper, aluminum and nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had all moved up on week, with copper rising $108.5/t from last Friday to close at $8,243.5/t and aluminum gaining $45/t during the same period to reach $2,282.5/t.
Meanwhile, the LME's three-month nickel contract increased by $156/t from the previous Friday to close at $21,318/t, according to the London exchange's data.
By Friday in Shanghai, inventories of copper at the SHFE's registered bonded and normal warehouses had gained on-week, with the tonnage higher by 471 tonnes to reach 86,648 tonnes. Those of nickel – that the previous week had tumbled to just 560 tonnes, the lowest since Mysteel started tracking the index in April 2015 – jumped spectacularly by 3,118 tonnes to reach 3,678 tonnes.
On the other hand, the exchange's aluminum stocks declined on week, falling by 7,775 tonnes to reach 147,039 tonnes as of Friday.
Source:Mysteel Global
