(MB) Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Wednesday January 2, the first trading day of the new year, after disappointing Chinese data provided further evidence of slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In Chinese data released earlier on Wednesday, the country’s Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for December fell to 49.4, from 50.2 in November. The latest reading showed factory activity contracted for the first time in 19 months amid a continuing trade dispute with the United States. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while below that signals contraction. This weaker-than-expected data follows a similarly disappointing release on Monday, which saw China’s official manufacturing PMI fall to 49.4 in December, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. This was below November’s reading of 50 and marked the weakest reading since February 2016. The data reignited concerns over reduced metal demand due to slowing growth in China, which in turn weighed on prices for the base metals this morning. The most-traded February copper contract on the SHFE fell to 48,040 yuan ($6,985) per tonne as at 9.33am Shanghai time, down by 0.6% or 300 yuan per tonne from last Friday’s close. The exchange was closed on Monday and Tuesday due to national holidays in China.
