BEIJING- Iron ore futures posted a weekly fall amid a flurry of profit-taking, ahead of top consumer China’s third plenum, although growing expectations of US rate cuts pushed up prices on Friday.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 0.3 percent higher at 827 yuan ($113.84) a metric ton. It is down 3.2 percent week-on-week.
The benchmark August iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.5 percent higher at $107.8 a ton, a drop of more than 2 percent from the closing price last Friday.
The prospect of easing monetary policy helped boost sentiment across the commodity complex, ANZ bank analysts said in a note.
“This week, the focus of (iron ore) trading shifted back to fundamentals,” said a Shanghai-based trader, requesting anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to media.
Iron ore prices are expected to remain under pressure from dwindling demand in the short term after hot metal output eyed a more obvious fall this week and losses among steelmakers exacerbated, analysts at Everbright Futures said in a note.
