SHANGHAI, Mar. 12(SMM) -- During last Friday’s Asian trading hours, LME nickel prices advanced to USD 19,078/mt after opening at USD 18,775/mt. However, investors were largely cautious amid steady price decline, so LME nickel prices pared certain gains later. Close attention should be paid to the US non-farm employment data, which will guide LME base metal price performance. LME nickel inventories were 97,146 mt, down 780 mt.

In the Shanghai nickel spot market, mainstream traded prices of nickel from Jinchuan Group were in the RMB 135,000-135,300/mt range, and mainstream traded prices of nickel from Russia were in the RMB 134,700-135,000/mt range during the morning trading hours. Downstream buying interest was low, and purchases were largely made on an as-needed basis. During the afternoon trading hours, traded prices of Jinchuan nickel were around RMB 135,000/mt, and traded prices of Russian nickel were between RMB 134,600-134,700/mt, with quiet trading sentiment reported.