SHANGHAI, Feb. 5 (SMM) -- On Thursday, LME nickel prices opened at USD 18,200/mt and closed at USD 17,845/mt, with the highest level at USD 18,470/mt and the lowest level at USD 17,651/mt. Daily trading volumes were 3,704 lots and positions were 88,705 lots.

US dollar further strengthened to exceed 80 as a hedge against crisis due to negative impact from fiscal crisis in Euro zone, and it is expected to climb further today given its upward trend at present. The US Department of Labor announced on Thursday that the initial jobless claims last week climbed to 480,000, higher than the previous expectation of 460,000, triggering concern over non-farm employment data to be released tonight. Prices on stock market and commodity market both slumped, and this trend will not change in the short term.

LME nickel prices made a breakthrough from previous fluctuating price trend and were on downward trend at present. It is expected that LME nickel price will have difficulty to continue experiencing previous good performance under recent pessimistic view over economy recovery and LME nickel may fall further today with prices moving in the USD 17,600-18,200/mt range.

To contact the writer on this report: angelawang@smm.cn

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