BEIJING, May 11 (Reuters) - London aluminium prices fell for
a second session on Friday as technical selling continued to
affect the light metal despite plunging London Metal Exchange
(LME) inventories.
Trading volumes were again subdued, with just over 700 lots
changing hands by 0510 GMT, after Thursday's session was marked
by trade selling and bearish options activity.
However, broker Marex Spectron said in a note it estimates
that long positions on aluminium are "rebuilding from the recent
low" of 2.4 percent of open interest - an indicator of market
liquidity - to 5.4 percent this week.
LME aluminium stocks are at their lowest level since 2007
after the exchange said it would stop accepting Rusal metal from
April 17, although it is now reassessing the situation after the
United States gave customers of the Russian producer more time
to comply with sanctions.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the LME
was down by 1.5 percent to $2,301.50 a tonne by 0541 GMT, having
closed down 1.3 percent in the previous session.
* ALUMINIUM: The metal is down 2.1 percent in London so far
this week but is still up by around 14.6 percent since April 5,
the day before the United States imposed sanctions on Russian
producer Rusal.
* TECHNICALS: LME aluminium is expected to fall to $2,254
per tonne, as it has ended a bounce around a resistance at
$2,382, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao says.
* RUSAL: Rusal boosted first-quarter recurring net profit on
Friday amid stronger aluminium prices, but warned that sanctions
imposed by the United States in April could harm its business.
* EGA: Emirates Global Aluminium's stock market listing is
likely to slip to 2019 because of turmoil in global aluminium
markets after the United States imposed sanctions on Rusal,
three sources familiar with the deal said.
* COPPER: LME copper edged down 0.3 percent, having jumped
by 1.6 percent on Thursday as inventories continued to fall, but
is on course for a 1.1 percent gain this week. The most-traded
July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
climbed 0.6 percent to 51,410 yuan ($8,104.23) a tonne.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares rallied on Friday as risk appetite got a
boost from soft U.S. inflation, helping alleviate worries of
faster rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, while investors also
cheered U.S.-North Korean steps to further ease tensions on the
Korean Peninsula.
