SHANGHAI, Aug. 17 (SMM) -- LME nickel for delivery in three months opened at USD 21,600/mt and closed at USD 21,460/mt on Monday, down by USD 43/mt from a day earlier, with the highest price at USD 21,850/mt and the lowest price at USD 21,276/mt. LME nickel prices advanced slightly to USD 21,600/mt after opening at USD 21,500/mt on Tuesday. In the afternoon trading hours, LME nickel prices fell to certain extent, due to investors’ concern over the US industrial data to be released on Tuesday night and over uncertainties of a meeting between Germany and France. In addition, stronger US dollar index also weighed on base metal prices. SMM expects that LME nickel prices will receive support at USD 21,235/mt.  LME nickel inventories were up by 6 mt to 103,278 mt.

In the Shanghai nickel spot market, narrow fluctuation in LME nickel prices dampened traders’ trading interest, leaving quiet trading sentiment in the spot market. Mainstream traded prices of nickel from Russia were in the RMB 163,500-164,000/mt range, and mainstream traded prices of nickel from Jinchuan Group were in the RMB 164,500-165,000/mt range. Transactions were largely made during the morning trading hours, as trading sentiment was dampened when LME nickel prices slipped during the afternoon trading hours. Generally speaking, narrow fluctuation in LME nickel prices fueled traders’ wait-and-see sentiment, and lackluster demand from downstream consumers failed to support spot transactions. Recent domestic/LME nickel price ratio has been favorable for imports, allowing some Russian nickel to enter Shanghai nickel spot market. In this context, supply of spot nickel was relatively ample in the market.