[MARKET ANALYSIS] Base metals fall as China clamps down on HFTs
Importance
Level 1
- Crude futures trade steadily lower, with WTI Mar’26 dipping below USD 59/bbl while Brent Mar’26 oscillates around USD 63.50/bbl, despite a lack of geopolitical updates.
- Precious metals continue their recent trend of weakness in the APAC session, with spot XAU slipping back below USD 4,600/oz from a session high of USD 4,621/oz. Spot silver trades weaker again, despite paring back losses in the U.S. session on Thursday, as XAG dips below USD 90/oz.
- Base metals fall at the start of the final session of the week as China clamps down on high-frequency trading by removing servers from data centres. 3M LME copper fell from USD 13.16k/t to a trough of USD 12.95k/t and remains near session lows. Shanghai-traded metals were hit by the news, with nickel down by as much as 3%.
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