Print

China’s President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for all-out efforts to spur infrastructure spending, the latest step to bolster an economy that’s been battered by Covid-related lockdowns.

The announcement follows a vow by the country’s central bank to increase monetary support to the real economy. Fears about the economic toll of Covid Zero have shaken financial markets desperate for more policy support.

Xi’s call “appears to be lending some buoyancy to metals prices on the LME and SHFE today, though traders do not seem overly euphoric,” Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG, wrote in a note.

Most base metals were down on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday, with copper slipping as much as 0.9% and tin dropping as low as 1.9%.

Fears over weak demand in China due to the Covid-19 restrictions are still weighing on traders minds. “For as long as these persist and more lockdown measures keep emerging, demand concerns are likely to remain center stage,” Briesemann added.

Meanwhile, aluminum inventories in warehouses tracked by the London Metal Exchange — which are at the lowest level since 2005 — extended their slump. Shortfalls have increased after record fuel costs led to smelter closures in Europe and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine throttled the flow of metals.

Aluminum on the LME rose 1.4% to $3,106 a metric ton as of 2:45 p.m. London time, rebounding after settling Tuesday at its lowest level since Feb. 3. Zinc climbed 0.8%, while nickel was little changed.