At the midday close, China's main futures contracts were mostly lower. Lithium
carbonate fell more than 8%. Palladium, live hogs, Shanghai silver and benzene
dropped over 3%; red dates, styrene (EB) and palm oil fell over 2%. On the
upside, asphalt rose more than 3%; iron ore, eggs and fuel oil gained over 2%;
ethylene glycol (EG), PVC, plastics and bottle flake rose over 1%.