MELBOURNE, Sept 21 (Reuters) - London metals came under pressure on Thursday after the Federal Reserved raised expectations of one more rate hike this year, lifting the dollar and raising prospects of higher costs for industrial metals.
FUNDAMENTALS
- LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper CMCU3 had slipped by 0.8 percent to $6,471 a tonne by 0150 GMT, following a slightly softer close in the previous session. Prices earlier fell to $6,462 a tonne, the weakest since Sept. 15.
- SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper SCFcv1 also slid 0.8 percent to 50,360 yuan ($7,634) a tonne.
- FED: The U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but signalled it still expects one more increase by the end of the year despite a recent bout of low inflation.
- LME ALUMINIUM: LME aluminium eased from five-year highs tipped the session before but expectations of tighter supply into early next year underpinned prices.
- SHFE ALUMINIUM: Shfe aluminium rallied 1.6 percent as China's aluminium makers begin to ramp down production ahead of mandated capacity closures during the winter heating season. Shfe aluminium SAFcv1 is trading at six-year highs, above 17,000 yuan a tonne, and open interest is at record levels of above 1 million lots.
- CHINA PRODUCTION: Production cuts are already feeding through into lower output from the world's top producer of the metal after Beijing's campaign to close illegally built capacity earlier this year. Total Chinese production in August was 2.64 million tonnes, compared with 2.686 million tonnes in July, the International Aluminium Institute said.
- US ECONOMY: U.S. home resales fell to their lowest in a year in August as Hurricane Harvey depressed activity in Houston and a persistent shortage of properties on the market sidelined buyers.
- ZINC: Volcan Investments, the family trust of the chairman of diversified miner Vedanta
, on Wednesday said it was increasing its stake in Anglo American but did not intend to make a bid for the entire company. - For the top stories in metals and other news, click [TOP/MTL] or [MET/L]
MARKETS NEWS
- The U.S. dollar shone while Asian shares slipped slightly on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a plan to start shrinking its balance sheet and signalled one more rate hike later this year. [MKTS/GLOB]
DATA AHEAD (GMT) 1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims 1230 U.S. Philly Fed business index Sep 1300 U.S. Monthly home price index Jul PRICES Three month LME copper CMCU3 Most active ShFE copper SCFcv1 Three month LME aluminium CMAL3 Most active ShFE aluminium SAFcv1 Three month LME zinc CMZN3 Most active ShFE zinc SZNcv1 Three month LME lead CMPB3 Most active ShFE lead SPBcv1 Three month LME nickel CMNI3 Most active ShFE nickel SNIcv1 Three month LME tin CMSN3 Most active ShFE tin SSNcv1
ARBS LMESHFCUc3 LMESHFALc3 LMESHFZNc3 LMESHFPBc3 LMESHFNIc3
($1 = 6.5972 Chinese yuan)
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