(MB) Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Monday September 17, with the complex pressured by weak Chinese macroeconomic data and trade war concerns.The most-traded November copper contract price on the SHFE dropped to 47,940 yuan ($6,979) per tonne as at 9.50am Shanghai time, down by 480 yuan per tonne from last Friday’s close. The release of disappointing Chinese macroeconomic data at the end of last week saw investors’ appetite for risk fall, with the SHFE base metals declining as a result. Chinese data released last Friday showed Chinese fixed asset investment growth slowed to 5.3% in the first eight months of the year, below a forecast of 5.5% and matching a record low in January-July.
“Fixed asset investment growth in the first eight months slowed to its lowest level since 1999. In particular, infrastructure investment rose just 4.2%, the weakest since the data series began in 2014,” ANZ Research noted on Monday. In addition, possible US-China trade war has continued to cloud the overall sentiment, following reports on Friday that US president Trump would go ahead with the $200 billion of new tariff and China may turn down the offer of trade talks. In addition, heightened concerns over the lingering United States-China trade war continues to stifle any positivity in the market, with the market wary of further tariffs. This comes after reports last Friday that US President Donald Trump will go ahead with $200 billion of new tariffs on Chinese goods as early as today. The news boosted the dollar index, which stood at 94.93 as at 9.51am Shanghai time. This compares with a reading of 94.55 at roughly the same time last Friday. The firmer US currency added to the downward pressure forcing the SHFE base metals, bar tin, to trade lower this morning.
