On Wednesday night, most major contracts of basic metal futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose. Shanghai copper increased by 1.25% to 79,610 yuan/ton, Shanghai aluminum rose by 0.34% to 20,535 yuan/ton, Shanghai zinc gained 0.70% to 23,765 yuan/ton, Shanghai nickel grew by 1.07% to 135,070 yuan/ton, Shanghai tin climbed 1.29% to 270,240 yuan/ton, stainless steel increased by 0.72% to 13,980 yuan/ton, while Shanghai lead fell by 1.43% to 18,985 yuan/ton.
U.S. markets were closed.
European Stocks: The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.17%. Germany’s DAX 30 index decreased by 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 index dropped by 0.77%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 index rose by 0.17%.
A-shares: The Shanghai Composite Index dropped by 0.4%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 1.07%, and the ChiNext Index declined by 1.26%.
[UK May CPI Grew 2% Year-on-Year, 0.3% Month-on-Month]
According to data released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics on the 19th, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 2% year-on-year in May, down from 2.3% in April, matching economists’ expectations. The service sector inflation rate, closely watched by the Bank of England, decreased from 5.9% to 5.7%. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose by 0.3% in May, with core inflation (excluding energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco) dropping from 3.9% in April to 3.5%, also in line with expectations.
[Bank of Canada Minutes: June Meeting Considered Waiting Until July to Cut Rates]
The minutes from the Bank of Canada’s meeting indicate that although members recognized the risk of inflation progress stalling, they unanimously believed that the indicators showed sufficient progress to warrant a rate cut. The members felt that easing monetary policy might be a gradual process. They discussed the possibility of policy divergence from the United States and agreed that the divergence had not yet reached a critical point. The option of waiting until July to cut rates was also considered by the members.