LIVE FUTURES REPORT 03/01: SHFE zinc prices follow LME higher; copper falls

The most-traded February zinc contract rose 80 yuan ($12) per tonne as of 10:02am Shanghai time to 25,930 yuan per tonne after the three-month zinc price on the LME on Tuesday hit a historical high of $3,352 per tonne on falling inventories.

LME zinc stocks on Tuesday were down 1,075 tonnes to 180,975 tonnes from December 29.

Zinc inventories on the SHFE also fell last week. Zinc stocks fell by 125 tonnes as of December 29 from a week earlier to 70,436 tonnes.

Copper prices on the SHFE pared overnight gains amid a slow start to trade on physical markets. Metal Bulletin assessed in-warehouse Shanghai copper premiums at $70-80 per tonne on Tuesday January 2, compared with $70-85 per tonne a week ago. CIF Shanghai copper premiums were down to $65-78 per tonne, compared with $68-80 per tonne the previous week.

The most-traded February copper contract was down 340 yuan to 54,910 yuan per tonne.

The US dollar index on Wednesday morning was up 0.06 to 91.89 on strong economic data released overnight.

The US manufacturing PMI for December indicated the strongest manufacturing growth since March 2015.

“US manufacturers ended 2017 on a high. Output growth accelerated to its fastest since the start of the year on the back of a marked upswing in demand as the year came to a close,” Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit said.

Nickel and tin down, aluminium and lead rise 

• The SHFE February aluminum contract was up 5 yuan to 15,080 yuan per tonne.
• The SHFE February lead contract rose 340 yuan per tonne to 19,360 yuan per tonne.
• The SHFE January nickel contract was down 270 yuan per tonne to 98,900 yuan per tonne.
• The SHFE January tin contract was down 1,000 yuan per tonne to 144,940 yuan per tonne.

Currency moves and data releases

• In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price was up $0.09 at to $66.57 per barrel and the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price was down $0.01 at $60.41 per barrel.
• In equities, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.77% to 3374.26.
• In data, the market will be keeping its eyes on FOMC minutes due tonight, as well as Spanish and German unemployment figures and the US ISM manufacturing PMI number.