MARKET ROUNDUP
Industrial metals futures finished the last trading day of the quarter with modest losses on Wednesday, as prices consolidated from this week's sharp rally and investors squared positions ahead of Friday's key government employment data.
IN FOCUS
- Nickel hit a near two-year high on Wednesday, and outperformed the rest of the metals complex in the first quarter, as supply shortages and robust demand from stainless steelmakers buoyed prices.
- Nickel prices rose 34.9 percent in the first quarter of this year, outperforming other metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, on buying triggered by expectations of stronger demand from stainless steel mills.
- Quarter-end fund business helped push aluminum and zinc to multiweek peaks and tin to its highest since September 2008. Copper steadied from an earlier fall, but remained near 19-month highs hit Tuesday at $7,878 in London and $3.5775 per lb in New York.
- Mexican copper output fell to 18,973 tonnes in January, down 8.8 percent from the same month a year earlier, the government said on Wednesday.
- China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 55.1 in March from 52.0 in February, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said on Thursday.
- Japan's third-largest copper smelter Mitsubishi Materials Corp said on Thursday it plans to produce 157,512 tonnes of copper in April-September, up 7.5 percent from a year earlier.
- Chile's state-owned Enami, which processes ore from small and mid-sized mining companies, said on Wednesday it had halted its copper smelter operations for 10 days after a ventilation failure at a suphuric acid plant.
- Global demand for copper -- used widely in power and construction -- is expected to rise 4.5 percent to 18.5 million tonnes this year, the survey showed.
- China's implied demand for copper and aluminium rose strongly in February compared to January, calculations based on official Chinese data showed on Monday.
- Implied demand for copper jumped 18.7 percent over the previous month while aluminium demand showed a 13.2 percent monthly increase. After adjusting for a 63 percent increase in copper stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange over the month, the rise in copper demand looked less dramatic, at 10.0 percent.
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK
Industrial metals a trading a tad higher on international bourses. We expect industrial metals to trade firm for the day on the back of handsome PMI numbers from China. Zinc and Nickel in particular looks good for the day. Buying at dips is recommended.
豫公网安备41010502003434号