SHANGHAI, Jun. 17 (SMM) – LME nickel prices opened at USD 18,070/mt overnight, with the high end of the price range USD 18,734/mt, and finding support at USD 18,070/mt. Finally, LME nickel prices closed at USD 18,734/mt, up USD 654/mt from the previous trading day. Trading volumes increased by 456 lots, to 3,876 lots and total positions decreased by 111 lots to 234,920 lots. LME nickel inventories were down 42 mt to 286,668 mt.

As China lowered deposit reserve ratio for more financial institutions, stocks markets were boosted. US May industry output was also upbeat, pushing up LME nickel prices to strengthen further and closing at USD 18,734. LME nickel prices overnight rose 3.6%, and prices for the most actively traded contract on the Wuxi electronic trading was only up 2.3%. Major economic data from the US will be released today, and boosted by deposit reserve ratio cut for more banks, LME nickel prices are expected to move between USD 18,650-19,000/mt today, and spot nickel prices in Shanghai will hover between RMB 128,500-130,500/mt.