SHANGHAI, June 1 (SMM) - SHFE 1507 nickel opened at RMB 98,860/mt during night session Friday and ended down 0.78% at RMB 98,430/mt with the session low at RMB 98,400/mt answering the drop in LME nickel.

The July-delivery nickel contract started Monday morning session at RMB 98,480/mt and then moved lower due to poor downstream demand and longs’ exiting market, to test a low of RMB 97,800/mt. The metal fluctuated between RMB 98,000-98,500/mt later, to finish at RMB 98,040/mt, off 1.82%. SHFE 1507 nickel positions fell 7,794 to 109,000 with trading volumes down 217,000 to 246,000 lots, mainly due to falling nickel prices and the most trading contract’s shift.

SHFE 1507 nickel is expected to inch lower this evening because LME nickel fell back during European and US trading hours.

The most-trading SHFE 1509 nickel opened at RMB 97,500/mt last Friday night and dipped to RMB 96,840/mt on a sell-off before fluctuating at low. The contract finally closed down 0.58% at RMB 97,030/mt.

SHFE 1509 nickel started at RMB 97,090/mt today and slipped quickly. The metal rebounded to regain some earlier losses, to end at RMB 96,810/mt, losing 1.18%. Trading volumes fell 24,488 to 172,000 lots while positions were up 12,384 to 157,000. Trading volumes for SHFE 1509 nickel grew near to ones for SHFE 1507 nickel, indicating that trades for the far-month contract picked up. Besides, price gap between them should still focus investors’ attention.

SHFE 1509 nickel may edge down tonight.