SHANGHAI, Dec. 22 (CBI China) -- Three-month LME nickel opened at RMB 9,900/mt, high RMB 10,450/mt, low RMB 9,825/mt, closed at RMB 10,250/mt, up RMB 500/mt. Premium is RMB 106/mt, inventory is 74,244mt, up 1,308mt. NYMEX-1 crude oil futures closed at USD 2.35/mt, offer USD 33.87/mt, due to weak economy, soft demand and ample inventory, the contract being expired today is under pressure in recent months in January. 

    U.S. government and General Motors and Chrysler signed the loan agreement up to 17.4 billion U.S. dollars. Rumor that Bank of Japan will cut the targeted policy interest rate to 0.1% on Friday stimulate the metals to rebound. 

    Christmas holidays approaches, the downstream consumer market is difficult to rebound sharply, the economic news guide the market trend, LME nickel will follow the trend of copper prices, therefore the nickel prices are expected to fluctuate widely in the USD 9,000-10,500/mt range.

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