Iron-ore jumps on China data, bullish steel demand outlook
BEIJING - Iron-ore futures jumped on Wednesday, as better-than-expected China manufacturing activity data raised hopes for a demand rebound in the world's top steel producer.
The most-traded May iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 2.42% higher at 908.5 yuan ($131.64) a tonne, after closing about 0.8% lower in the previous session.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark April iron-ore was up 2.17% at $126.05 a tonne, as of 07:03 GMT, extending gains.
China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI)climbed to 52.6 last month, the highest reading since April 2012, up from 50.1 in the previous month.
"We believe the better-than-expected data has injected some confidence into the market. Also, the expectation of continued improvement in downstream (steel) demand lent support to the prices of raw materials including iron ore," said Yu Chen, a Shanghai-based senior iron-ore analyst at consultancy Mysteel.
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