SHANGHAI, Aug. 3 (SMM) -- LME nickel for delivery in three months opened at USD 24,901/mt and closed at USD 24,635/mt on Monday, down by USD 258/mt from a day earlier, with the highest price at USD 25,195/mt and the lowest price at USD 24,451/mt. LME nickel futures contract for delivery in three months fluctuated lower to hit the lowest of USD 24,451/mt after opening at USD 24,650/mt during the Asian trading hours on Tuesday. LME nickel prices struggled around 5-day moving average, with support at USD 24,300/mt.LME nickel inventories were down by 156 mt to 102,942 mt.

Overall transactions were extremely quiet in the Shanghai nickel spot market. Affected by Monday’s LME nickel price decline, and Tuesday’s weak performance of LME nickel prices and price decline of neighboring metals, traders’ interest in making deals was low and they largely adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Traded prices fell below RMB 180,000/mt. Mainstream traded prices of nickel from Russia were in the RMB 179,500-180,000/mt range, and mainstream traded prices of nickel from Jinchuan Group were in the RMB 179,800-180,500/mt range, with mixed offers reported. Comparatively speaking, transactions were more brisk in the morning trading hours than in the afternoon trading hours. Some traders almost reported no deals in recent days, and demand was extremely soft.