BEIJING: Singapore iron ore futures rebounded on Tuesday as market sentiment improved after the central bank of the world’s top steel producer lowered a short-term lending rate for the first time in 10 months.
This came after the benchmark had retreated over 3% the previous day following a near-15% rise over eight straight sessions on the backdrop of hopes that China would roll out a series of stimulus policies to revive its beleaguered property market.
The benchmark July iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.53% higher at $109.4 a metric ton, as of 0431 GMT.
The most-traded September iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), however, ended morning trading 0.25% lower at 794 yuan ($110.92) a metric ton.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut its seven-day reverse repo rate by 10 basis points to 1.90% from 2% on Tuesday as it injected 2 billion yuan through the short-term bond instrument.
The move comes after a flurry of weaker-than-expected economic data in April and May.
“It’s not a surprise for us to see a fall continue on the Dalian futures as the latest monetary stimulus has already been priced in previously,” said Cheng Peng, a Beijing-based analyst at Sinosteel Futures.
“We think the weakness will likely continue in the near term,” he added.
Meanwhile, other steelmaking ingredients like coking coal and coke rose 3.58% and 2.52%, respectively.
Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange grew 1.25%, hot-rolled coil added 1.22% and wire rod gained 2.53%.
“The recent rise in steel prices has helped to expand steel margins and encouraged blast-furnace-based steelmakers to restart operations,” analysts at Huatai Futures said in a morning note.
The fundamentals will only change after a steel output reduction policy is put into practice, they added. China’s state planner is yet to make an official announcement in this regard.
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