SMM Morning Review - 2010/8/11Nickel Market

SHANGHAI, Aug. 11 (SMM) -- LME nickel prices opened at USD 22,700/mt and closed at USD 22,250mt on Tuesday, down USD 580/mt from a day earlier, with the highest price at USD 22,700/mt and the lowest price at USD 22,075/mt. Daily trading volumes were 2,505 lots and positions were 92,010 lots. LME nickel inventories were down 240 mt to 116,034 /mt.

Base metal prices slip sharply on weaker economic data and the fact that US dollar strengthened even before the release of interest rate results from Federal Reserve. The US Department of Labor released on Tuesday that the initial US Q2 non farm productivity decreased at a 0.9 % annual rate, the first time slip since Q4 2008 and the biggest decline since Q3 2008, and the previous estimation was up 0.2%. In addition, China's imports in July were lower than market expectation. In this context, worries that the global economy's recovery is slowing are growing.

It is expected that LME nickel prices will continue to fluctuate, with prices moving between USD 22,000-22,700/mt.

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