On Tuesday, the Shanghai copper main month 2405 contract opened high in the morning, but then began to shake down at 09:30. As of 10:00, the latest offer was 72900 yuan/ton, up 0.11%. At the same time, after the London Metal Exchange (LME) opened today, the opening jumped, and in the Asian session, the latest quote at 10:00 Beijing time was 8938 US dollars/ton, up 0.74%.
At the international level, the slowdown in US price data provides the Federal Reserve with more options for future monetary policy. Although market expectations of interest rate cuts were reduced by the manufacturing PMI data, copper investors remain wary of the future direction of monetary policy. The rise in the dollar and the rise in 10-year Treasury yields have certainly added to copper's volatility. In addition, the closure of the London Metal Exchange in recent days has also brought some uncertainty to the market.
However, the high level of copper inventories in Shanghai has become a stumbling block for copper prices. Inventories are almost nine times what they were at the start of the year, a staggering figure. Analysts believe that slow end-user demand and smelter output control are the main reasons for the inventory backlog. With supply relatively stable, weak demand has made it difficult for copper prices to rise much.
Entering April, the copper market transaction is expected to pick up slightly, and the sentiment of holding goods is relatively strong, superimposing the Qingming Festival is coming, and downstream enterprises have pre-holiday stock demand, which supports spot consumption. However, in the face of high premiums and high inventories, downstream transactions are still dominated by wait-and-see, and transactions are more scattered. The relatively limited upside of the premium also reflects the market's lack of confidence in rising copper prices.
Changjiang Nonferrous metals network data show that domestic spot copper prices fell slightly. Yangtze River spot 1# copper price at 72740-72780 yuan/ton, the average price at 72760 yuan/ton, slightly down 20 yuan/ton from the previous trading day.
