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 US dollar. The official manufacturing PMI released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that manufacturing activity in China grew for the third consecutive month in December. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose by 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 stated, "As the year-end approaches, while copper consumption tends to decline seasonally, stocks have slightly increased." The most actively traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell by 0.7% to 73,690 yuan per ton ($10,097.15) at the close of Asian morning trading. LME aluminum increased by 0.1% to $2,552.50 per ton, nickel rose by 0.36% to $15,470, zinc increased by 0.6% to $3,036.50, while tin saw a decrease of 0.8% to $29,055, and lead decreased by 0.1% to $1,948.50.