SINGAPORE: Iron ore futures rose on Thursday, as the easing of strict COVID-19 curbs in some cities in top steelmaker China following a recent string of protests lifted demand sentiment.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.1% to 767.5 yuan ($108.53) a tonne as of 0215 GMT. On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark December iron ore was up 1.4% at $102.05 a tonne.
The giant Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing announced an easing of covid curbs on Wednesday, a day after demonstrators in southern Guangzhou clashed with police amid a string of protests against the world’s toughest coronavirus restrictions.
Mainland China’s Health Commission reported 36,061 new coronavirus cases for Nov 30, compared with 37,828 new cases a day earlier. Market sentiment was buoyed by the apparent shift in China’s zero-Covid strategy.
However, weakness in the property sector persists-new home sales by the 100 biggest producer developers dropped 26% year-on-year to CNY 559bn in November, ANZ said in a research note.
Global miner Rio Tinto, said on Wednesday its iron ore shipments in 2023 would be in the same range as this year’s forecast, and warned costs would be higher.
The Federal Reserve could scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes “as soon as December,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, while cautioning the fight against inflation was far from over and that key questions remain unanswered, including how high rates will ultimately need to rise and for how long.
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