SMM Evening Comments (Jan 12)

SHANGHAI, Jan 12 (SMM)? 1/4 ? SHFE zinc stood out from the performance of other nonferrous metals with a 0.8% rise today, while nickel was down close to 2% and lead down 1%. Copper and aluminium both edged down 0.5%.

The ferrous complex remained weak with iron ore down over 2% and rebar down 1.6%. Coking coal and hot-rolled coil were down some 1.4% and coke closed 0.7% lower.

Copper: SHFE copper was stable today and may stay rangebound tonight. Investors are seeking cues from the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) in December.

Zinc: SHFE zinc followed the LME trend but lacked its own momentum. However, investors continued to raise their bullish bets and we expect the contract to stay firm tonight.

Nickel: US data is likely to set the tone for the night session and we expect SHFE nickel to rangebound at high levels. 

Aluminium: The trading volumes of SHFE aluminium decreased following a poor performance last night as we see pressure at the 60-day moving average. On the fundamentals, we believe downstream orders in January would slip from levels seen in December, leaving aluminium prices to stay weak.

Tin: We see pressure at 147,000 yuan/mt and support at 144,000 yuan/mt for SHFE tin in the short term.

Lead: SHFE lead may reverse the downward movement seen earlier in the day and stand above the 20-day moving average during the trading session tonight with stronger Chinese yuan.

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