SINGAPORE- Iron ore futures retreated on Tuesday as investors and traders grew wary of prospects of forceful stimulus from top consumer China from its third plenum following a slew of weaker-than-expected economic data.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 0.24 percent lower at 830 yuan ($114.25) a metric ton, following a rise of more than 1 percent on Monday.
The benchmark August iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was down nearly 0.5 percent at $108.2 a ton.
There is little expectation for the plenum to provide any relief to iron ore prices, said ING analysts in a note.
Beijing’s focus will likely be on property completions and lowering the inventories, while new construction activity, which iron ore and steel rely on, should be low on the priority list, added ING.
Analysts expect cutting debt and boosting confidence to be the main focus of a third plenum in Beijing this week, although solving one of those problems may make it difficult to fix another. The plenum is a key Communist party leadership meeting that focuses on long-term economic reforms.
