Metals futures give up gains by day end
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Metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) closed down across the board Thursday, giving back almost all of Thursday's gains.
The benchmark June copper contract was the biggest mover of the day, down 0.96 percent at 70,520 yuan ($10,769) per ton at the close of trading, according to data from the exchange.
SHFE copper prices were held down by higher than anticipated domestic supply, said Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst for Minmetals Futures in Shenzhen.
The drop contrasts Thursday's rise in the copper futures price on the London Metal Exchange. "The London Metal Exchange price reached a record high, but the SHFE remains weak; Chinese buyers have no interest to buy," Zhuo said.
SHFE copper futures reached a two-year high of 77,250 yuan ($11,775) on February 15, but fell 6 percent over the first quarter, according to data from the exchange.
Although the second quarter typically marks the beginning of peak demand season for copper, the market has been skittish recently because of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and the possibility of monetary tightening measures resulting from a worsening European debt crisis, Wang Zhouyi, an analyst with Shanghai Cifco Futures, said.
Copper on the Changjiang Nonferrous Metals Trading Market, a major local spot metals market, traded Thursday at an average price of 70,700 yuan ($10,793) per ton, down 375 yuan ($57.25) from the previous day, according to the market's website.
Three-month-delivery copper on the London Metal Exchange reached 9,432.50 yuan ($1,440) per ton, as of 4:43 pm Beijing time Thursday.
SHFE steel rebar futures shed 0.04 percent. The most active steel rebar contract remained near an eight-session high, after hitting a four-month low of 4,627 yuan ($706.46) on March 22, Reuters reported Thursday. However, the contract was down 1.5 percent for the first quarter.
Baoshan Iron & Steel, China's top listed steelmaker, posted an 8.3 percent rise in quarterly profit Wednesday, and said it expected growth in global steel demand to slow this year.
The June delivery of aluminum lost about 0.5 percent to settle at 16,770 yuan ($2,560) per ton and the June zinc contract lost 0.92 percent to settle at 18,190 yuan ($2,777).
The September delivery lead contract fell by 0.55 percent to 18,650 yuan ($2,847) per ton.
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