Copper - Last Friday evening, LME copper opened at $9,111.5/mt, rising at the start and peaking at $9,175.5/mt. It then fell all the way down, touching $8,952.5/mt near the close, and finally closed at $8,954/mt, down 1.61%. Trading volume was 18,000 lots, and open interest was 279,000 lots.
Aluminum - Last Friday night, the most-traded SHFE aluminum 2410 contract opened at 19,330 yuan/mt, reaching a high of 19,365 yuan/mt and a low of 19,095 yuan/mt, and closed at 19,110 yuan/mt, down 200 yuan/mt or 1.04%. Last Friday, LME aluminum opened at $2,384/mt, hit a high of $2,394/mt and a low of $2,340/mt, and closed at $2,341.5/mt, down $36.5/mt or 1.53%.
Lead - Last Friday night, LME lead opened at $1,994/mt. It fluctuated downward during the Asian session, then consolidated around the daily moving average upon entering the European session, and trended downward to a low of $1,961/mt. Before the close, it slightly rebounded and ended at $1,970/mt, down $18/mt, a decrease of 0.91%. Last Friday night, the most-traded SHFE lead 2410 contract opened at 16,880 yuan/mt and immediately trended downward due to the weak performance of LME lead, reaching a low of 16,600 yuan/mt, before closing at 16,660 yuan/mt, down 235 yuan/mt, a decrease of 1.39%.
Zinc - Last Friday, LME zinc opened at $2737/mt, fluctuated around the daily moving average after the opening, climbed during the midday, reached a high of $2780/mt, then fell back, reaching a low of $2702/mt at the end of the session, and finally closed down at $2705/mt, a decrease of $25.5/mt, or 0.93%. Trading volume decreased to 11,819 lots, and open interest increased by 5,177 lots to 230,000 lots. Last Friday, the most-traded SHFE zinc 2410 contract opened at 22,920 yuan/mt, initially climbed to 23,040 yuan/mt, then declined, reaching a low of 22,635 yuan/mt at the end of the session, and finally closed down at 22,690 yuan/mt, a decrease of 160 yuan/mt, or 0.70%. Trading volume increased to 112,000 lots, and open interest decreased by 819 lots to 94,479 lots.
Nickel - Last week, nickel prices significantly declined, with the most-traded contract closing at 123,920 yuan/mt on Friday. Last week, macro sentiment weakening its support and fundamentals being pressured by increasing inventories pushed nickel prices into a downward trend. From an information perspective, new updates from Indonesia suggested that the market was currently very close to expecting new RKAB quota approvals, and there was strong anticipation for a gradual decline in nickel ore premiums. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government also mentioned last week that they expected LME nickel prices in the short to medium term to be maintained at $15,000-$16,000/mt. They convened relevant parties in the nickel industry to discuss solutions for ore supply and considered adjusting the current tax-free period policies for nickel projects. Macro-wise, the US August ISM services index was 51.5, slightly above the expected 51.4, with the previous value of 51.4. New orders index grew rapidly, but the employment index remained stagnant. Additionally, the US August ADP non-farm payrolls data released last Thursday showed an unexpected drop to 99,000, the lowest in three and a half years, with July data revised downward, indicating a sharp slowdown in the labour market. This caused the dollar and US debt to fluctuate downward, and it was evident that the market was betting on the US Fed accelerating its rate cut pace.