Before the Easter vacation there was short-covering in London as next Wednesday is also the settlement day there, so after the vacation there should be more stop-loss buying.

The sell-off in oil damped demand for some metals yesterday in London and New York. Traders in China are worried there might be a chain reaction of funds selling metals to take profits.

For now the rate hike will have mostly a psychological impact on the market. Investors will probably use this as a reason to push prices down before re-entering the market at lower levels.

In China, purchases from major consumers, including power cable makers, are still normal at this price level. Buyers are doing futures to hedge price swings and help reduce losses made on the spot market.

By next Wednesday, we'll have a much better idea where we are. We're still going through the bid packets, doing some value-engineering. I don't really relish going back and having to ask for more money.

The Easter effect is a reality. If you go on vacation later, you postpone your shopping.