BEIJING: Iron ore futures slipped on Wednesday, as investors shifted focus back on soft fundamentals of the key steelmaking ingredient from expectations of more stimulus from top consumer China.

The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 0.95% lower at 780 yuan ($109.16) a metric ton.

The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange shed 2.08% to $103.2 a ton, as of 0359 GMT. “Some traders chose to liquidate part of long positions to lock in profits following rises in previous days,” said Pei Hao, an analyst at international brokerage Freight Investor Services (FIS).

“Some funds flowed out of the market as risk-off sentiment emerged amid uncertainty in the US election, resulting in falls in prices of many commodities, including iron ore.”

Expectations of more stimulus during the meeting of the standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress this week had driven ore prices up by more than 1% in the first two sessions. The gains were, however, erased on Wednesday.