LONDON, January 25: The London Metal Exchange (LME) base metal closed lower on Tuesday and held its downside support. The midday downtrend was once broadened in the afternoon but it was cut at the close. Three-month copper Rebounded from a near low of US$3,035 and returned to the 3,050 level, closing at 3,054, still lower than the closing price of US$3,072 on Monday. Most trading sessions today are light, with small orders driving price movements. Commodity Trading Advisor The (CTA) sell order triggered the stop loss order and triggered a downtrend in the afternoon, which was later covered. The fund's trading activity was also very limited. The short-term uncertainty caused the overall market trend to remain unclear. A source said : "More recent seems to be a small amount of transactions. People hold some parts, but not as big as usual. For some of us, this year's start seems difficult and we must look at the direction of the next few months." ** China's strong economic data provide support ** Dealers and analysts said that China’s economic growth data in the fourth quarter of last year was strong and supported the underlying metals market. China’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew 9 percent year-on-year. .5%, but a senior official said that the timing of RMB exchange rate adjustment is not yet mature and there is no possibility of a rate hike. In April last year, copper prices fell by about 10% in two days because of China’s steps to cool the economy. But Barclays Capital analysts pointed out that China’s fixed-asset investment growth continued to slow in December. The bank’s report stated that “although (China's fixed-asset investment growth) has slowed down, the growth rate is still healthy for industrial metals. In particular, stocks are at an extremely low level." Short-term supply shortages in the copper market will continue, and the spot/three-month reverse spread has widened to 154/160 from Monday's $144. Three-month aluminum was under 1,815. Stopped the sell-sell shock, and at one point almost tangibly fell below the level of the 100-day moving average at around 1,800, but ended up falling at $1,807, down $31. The three-month zinc price fell by $15 to 1,275. Lead fell by US$11 to 910. During the three-month period, tin also fell by US$75 to 7,725. Three-month nickel rose by US$50 to 14,200. Source: China International Futures Brokerage Co., Ltd.
