Three months LME aluminium rose above moving averages on Monday night to touch US$1,791.5/t; likely to trade high today

The US dollar dropped to the lowest in more than one week on Monday against a basket of currencies after data showed US factory activity contracted in November. LME base metals closed mixed on Monday and aluminium gained 1.8% to become the outperformer. The SHFE aluminium also registered a gain.

LME aluminium gained substantially on Monday night. As the greenback dropped, three-month LME aluminium climbed to a three-week high of U$1,793 per tonne on Monday night, before it ended up 1.79% at US$1,791.5 per tonne, standing above all near-term moving averages. LME aluminium is expected to trade between US$1,760-1,800 per tonne today.

As on December 2, Monday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1789 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1789.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1768 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1769 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1828 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price stands at US$ 1833 per tonne.

The LME aluminium opening stock increased again to 1273300 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 1114650 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 158650 tonnes.

LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 1767 per tonne.

SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

Benchmark aluminium price for SHFE (Shanghai Future Exchange) dropped to US$ 2002 per tonne today December 3, 2019.

The most-liquid SHFE 2001 contract rose for the third consecutive day as greater than expected drop in social inventories of primary aluminium boosted morale among longs. The contract shrugged off resistance from the 60-day moving average to hit an intraday high of RMB 13,970 per tonne, closing up 0.9% at RMB 13,950 per tonne. The SHFE 2001 contract rose to its highest since October 9 at RMB 13,995 per tonne overnight, before closing up 0.68% at RMB 13,990 per tonne. The build of long positions accounted for overnight gain in SHFE aluminium, as falling social inventories domestically improved market sentiment. The SHFE 2001 contract is expected to trade rangebound at RMB 13,850-14,000 per tonne today, with spot premiums of RMB 50-70 per tonne over SHFE 1912 contract.