SMM

Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,214/mt, initially peaked at $9,248/mt, then fluctuated downward, touching a low of $9,072/mt towards the close, and finally settled at $9,072/mt, with a decline of 1.14%. Trading volume reached 22,000 lots, and open interest was 267,000 lots. The most-traded SHFE copper 2501 contract opened and peaked at 74,990 yuan/mt, then fluctuated downward, touching a low of 74,530 yuan/mt mid-session, and slightly rebounded to close at 74,700 yuan/mt, with a decline of 0.94%. Trading volume reached 37,000 lots, and open interest was 145,000 lots. On the macro front, a report released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday showed that the Producer Price Index rose 0.4% MoM in November, with economists having expected a rise of 0.2%. The market has almost fully priced in the expectation that the US Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at next week's meeting, with the US dollar index breaking through the 107 level, suppressing copper prices. Domestically, the Central Economic Work Conference was successfully held, proposing to leverage economic system reforms to drive landmark reform measures to fruition. Fundamentally, copper prices maintain a fluctuating trend, with downstream sentiment still cautious and some suppliers offloading at low prices, but downstream purchase willingness remains low. Overall, market transactions weakened prior to the last trading day of the SHFE copper 2412 contract. As of December 12, Thursday, SMM national mainstream area copper inventories increased by 2,600 mt to 122,300 mt from Monday, but total inventories are 59,000 mt higher from last year's 63,000 mt. In terms of prices, copper prices are currently significantly suppressed by the US dollar index, and copper prices are expected to stabilize before the US Fed's interest rate decision meeting.