LME market activity weakens, SHFE aluminium to consolidate narrowly

<p>Market activity has weakened over the Christmas weekend and will remain muted through the week. The UK and the US markets under London Metal Exchange will remain closed on Monday and Tuesday for the Christmas holidays. LME aluminium inched hiher by 0.14 per cent to close at US$1,740 per tonne on Friday&rsquo;s night trading. <br /><br />Year-end holiday factors combined with liquidity crunch in the international markets left investors keeping off trading after they were done with profit-making. Hence, commodity prices are expected to fall &lsquo;within a limited range&rsquo; this week.<br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/LME%20Aluminium_23%20Dec.jpg" alt="News" width="517" height="278" /><br />In China, benchmark price of aluminium traded on Shanghai Metal Exchange (SME) stood at US$1,811 per tonne on December 26, Monday, down 2.37 per cent from Friday&rsquo;s benchmark price of US$1,855 per tonne. <br /><br />Aluminium on Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) i.e. SHFE 1702 aluminium dropped below all moving averages on last Friday&rsquo;s night trading and will range between RMB 12,530-12,740/mt on Monday. Although SHFE 1702 aluminium is still in falling track, tightening transport capacity in northwest China remains tight and shipment restriction will support the contract, observed SMM.<br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />SHFE market will consolidate narrowly in the last week of December 2016. Spot aluminium, in China&rsquo;s domestic market, should trade at premiums of RMB 60-100/mt on Monday, says SMM.</p>