Shanghai base metals traded mixed on Friday morning as traders monitored the European Central Bank's latest meeting and the beginning of Joe Biden's presidency. Meanwhile, their counterparts on the LME also set for a mixed start. Shanghai base metals closed mixed in overnight trading. Lead slid 0.99%, zinc declined 0.37% and copper weakened 0.19%, while aluminium climbed 1.21%, tin rose 2.43% and nickel increased 0.64%. The LME complex performed similarly on Thursday. Tin was the best performer with a rise of 1.66%. Aluminium advanced 0.58%, nickel edged up 1.1%, while copper slid 0.09%, lead declined 0.25% and zinc weakened 0.71%. According to the economic data released by the US last night, the economic recovery gained some upward momentum, which combined with investors' continued optimistic expectations of the economic stimulus plan, which made the macro sentiment warm. However, the uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 to the economy made investors cautious, and copper was likely to continue to fluctuate in the near term. On the spot side, the quoted shippers are far larger than the inquiry buyers, and the downstream orders are hard to see improvement after entering the end of January.