SINGAPORE- Iron ore futures extended their gains for a third session on Thursday ahead of China’s trade data, although a bleak economic outlook and geopolitical tensions capped further upside.
The most-traded September iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 1.4 percent at 827.0 yuan ($115.31) per metric ton, touching a near-two week high.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark August iron ore was up 0.8 percent at $109.9 per metric ton.
“Iron ore prices were up again overnight, lifted by positive credit data out of China as aggregate financing for June increased, beating market expectations – a positive sign for the property market,” National Australia Bank said in a note.
Chinese banks in June extended 3.05 trillion yuan ($423.45 billion) in new yuan loans, more than double May’s tally and beating analysts’ forecasts, data from the central People’s Bank of China showed on Tuesday.
China is due to report June’s trade data later in the session, and it will include the closely watched iron ore imports and steel exports.
The country’s apparent consumption of crude steel is expected to fall 27.8 million metric tons, or 5.7 percent year-on-year to 459.8 million tons in the second half of this year, MySteel forecast on Tuesday.
