Shanghai aluminium retreats after early gains
SYDNEY, April 18 (Reuters) - Shanghai aluminium retreated on Tuesday but retained most of its gains from the previous day's session on signs of robust demand in China and production cuts.
"Shanghai saw some profit-taking in aluminium after Monday's gains, but the fundamentals are still in place," a commodities trader said. "We weren't anticipating a major sell-off today."
Shanghai Futures Exchange aluminium settled 0.28 percent lower at 14,495 yuan ($2,104) after see-sawing for most of the day.
The contract on Monday reached a near four-year high before buyers re-entered the market.
Three new aluminium projects with a capacity of 2 million tonnes have been halted in Xinjiang in western China for violating rules aimed at curbing capacity, state-owned China Securities Times reported on Sunday.
The contract was also being underpinned by data on Monday showing China's economy grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.
ShFE copper ended 1.6 percent lower at 45,850 yuan a tonne, while ShFE zinc dropped 2 percent to 21,400 yuan.
London Metal Exchange copper also retreated after seeing earlier gains, down 1 percent to $5,651 a tonne, when LME resumed trading after the Easter weekend.
SHFE nickel was weighed down by supply concerns and weak demand from stainless steel makers, ending 1 percent lower at 80,240 a tonne.
Negative sentiment spilled over into the LME contract , which lost almost 2 percent to $9,595 a tonne
PRICES
Three month LME copper
Most active ShFE copper
Three month LME aluminium
Most active ShFE aluminium
Three month LME zinc
Most active ShFE zinc
Three month LME lead
Most active ShFE lead
Three month LME nickel
Most active ShFE nickel
Three month LME tin
Most active ShFE tin
ARBS ($1 = 6.8885 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)