SMM Daily Review – 2011/8/4 Nickel Market

SHANGHAI, Aug. 5 (SMM) -- LME nickel for delivery in three months opened at USD 24,650/mt and closed at USD 23,920/mt on Wednesday, down by USD 780/mt from a day earlier, with the highest price at USD 24,685/mt and the lowest price at USD 23,831/mt. On Thursday, LME nickel prices opened at USD 23,950/mt and later fluctuated lower after slight advance during the early Asian trading hours. LME nickel prices accelerated decline and hit a low of USD 23,500/mt during the European trading hours, weighed down by surge of the US dollar. After falling below 30-day moving average, LME nickel prices may fall to test USD 60-day moving average at 23,300/mt. LME nickel inventories were down by 120 mt to 102,780 mt.

In the Shanghai nickel spot market, spot prices slipped sharply along with Wednesday’s LME nickel price tumble. Mainstream traded prices of nickel from Russia were in the RMB 177,000-177,300/mt range, with some deals also made between RMB 176,500-177,000/mt, and mainstream traded prices of nickel from Jinchuan Group were in the RMB 175,500-178,000/mt range, with some deals also made around RMB 177,300/mt. Generally speaking, transactions at high-end prices were limited, while transactions at low-end prices were moderate. Market sentiment was bearish. An increasing number of market players began to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, with cautious transactions reported.