LIVE FUTURES REPORT 15/09: LME stock deliveries weigh on SHFE copper prices

The SHFE’s most-active November copper contract inched up 90 yuan to 50,470 yuan ($7,717) per tonne as of 03:26 BST, compared with the previous day’s close.

The dollar’s rebound has halted for now – at 92.09 as of 04:34 BST, it is below Thursday’s rebound high of 92.66, lending some slight support to the base metals.

However, large copper stock deliveries into London Metal Exchange-listed warehouses this week has kept red metal prices under pressure. LME copper stocks increased a net 29,420 tonnes to 276,025 tonnes on Thursday. Total copper stocks on the LME are now up 26% since Tuesday.

Lead, zinc and nickel higher; aluminium, tin drop

• The SHFE November zinc contract rose 315 yuan to 24,960 yuan per tonne.
• The SHFE January nickel contract was up 400 yuan to 88,800 yuan per tonne.
• The SHFE November aluminium contract declined 115 yuan to 16,475 yuan per tonne.
• The SHFE October lead contract dropped 300 yuan to 19,605 yuan per tonne.
• The SHFE January tin price edged lower 70 yuan to 144,300 yuan per tonne.

Currency moves and data releases

• The dollar index was up 0.1% at 92.09 as of 04:34 BST.
• In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price was up 0.02% to $55.28 per barrel, while the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price decreased 0.02% to $49.72.
• In equities, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.31% to 3,360.84.
• In data released on Thursday, US headline CPI inflation was modestly stronger than expected in August, at 0.4% month on month (1.9% year on year), while core CPI rose 0.2% month on month (1.7% year on year). US weekly unemployment claims came in at 284,000, compared with an expected and previous reading of 303,000 and 298,000, respectively.
• The Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to leave rates unchanged at 0.25%, but stated that it may need to adjust policy “over the coming months.”
• The economic agenda is busy today with the EU’s trade balance, the UK’s BoE quarterly bulletin and CB leading index as well as a host of US data including retail sales, the Empire State manufacturing index, capacity utilisation rate, industrial production and preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment.