China's factory output growth cooled, rising 6.5 percent in April from a year earlier, while fixed-asset investment grew 8.9 percent in the first four months this year. "While these might be numbers that many western economies could only dream of, the fact is the Chinese economy is becoming a little sluggish," Kingdom Futures said in a report.
"Without positive news this (could) be a very dull summer." Weekly Shanghai zinc and copper inventories plunged by around 20,000 tonnes each, according to the most recent data, showing that consumers are turning to exchange stocks to source their metal. Both markets are expected to be in deficits this year.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $124 billion on Sunday for his new Silk Road plan to forge a path of peace, inclusiveness and free trade, and called for the abandonment of old models based on rivalry and diplomatic power games. US retail sales increased broadly in April while consumer prices rebounded, pointing to a pickup in economic growth and a gradual rise in inflation that could keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates next month. Hedge funds and other money managers slashed their net long position in COMEX copper to the lowest since November in the week ended May 9, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Friday.
Copyright Reuters, 2017