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According to news from Singapore on February 18, LME base metal futures were mixed during the Asian session on Wednesday. Short covering and carry buying after Tuesday's market selloff pushed copper, aluminum and zinc higher in early trading, but trading in other metal futures was extremely sparse. Affected by the sharp decline in U.S. stocks overnight, Asian stock markets continued to fall, but the U.S. dollar gave up some of its recent gains against major currencies, providing some support for the base metals market. A trader at an Asian bank said that copper prices are expected to fall further in the future, partly suppressed by consumer behavior, as the market optimism that has been maintained since the Spring Festival holiday has ended. he said: “The market expects copper prices to test the $3,000 per ton level, so participants are waiting. ”Naoki Mita, senior metals trader at Barclays Capital in Tokyo, said copper could fall below $3,000 a ton at the end of the first quarter, but then rebound at the beginning of the second quarter when China's economic stimulus plan will drive increased demand. As of 0550 GMT, LME three-month copper was trading at $3,196 a ton, up $3 from the previous day's closing price, with trading volume of 1,261 lots. The benchmark April Shanghai copper contract fell 820 yuan to 26,730 yuan per ton. Harbor Intelligence noted in a report that aluminum futures may fall below the low of $1,316.50 per ton hit on January 23, the lowest since 2002, due to a sluggish macroeconomic environment, rising inventories, a stronger U.S. dollar and renewed risk aversion. Harbor said that if aluminum prices fall below US$1,300 per ton, they may inertia drop to the level of US$1,200 per ton. As of 0550 GMT, three-month aluminum on the LME was trading at $1,335 a tonne, up $5, with 323 lots traded. Haixin Steel Information Network ( http://www.hxsteel.cn )