MARKET OVERVIEW - Most Base Metal Prices Rise on the Last Day of the Year

Forex - Most base metal prices rose on the last trading day of 2024, with copper recording a 4.2% increase year-on-year as encouraging factory activity data from China outweighed the pressure from a strengthening U.S. dollar. The official manufacturing PMI released by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated that manufacturing activity in China grew for the third consecutive month in December. At the London Metal Exchange (LME), three-month copper rose 0.13% to $8,922 per ton compared to the closing price of $8,559 on the last trading day of 2023. Jinrui Futures analysts noted, “As the year-end approaches, while copper consumption tends to decline seasonally, inventories have increased slightly.” The most traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 0.7% to 73,690 yuan ($10,097.15) at the close of Asian morning trading. LME aluminum rose 0.1% to $2,552.50 per ton, nickel increased by 0.36% to $15,470, zinc was up 0.6% to $3,036.50, while tin fell 0.8% to $29,055, and lead decreased by 0.1% to $1,948.50.