SMM nickel market morning comment (Feb 23)

Overnight, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract opened at 128650 yuan/mt, and closed at 131320 yuan/mt, up 3040 yuan/mt. Trading volume rose 34975 lots, and open interest decreased 7372 lots. On the macro front, on February 20, the People's Bank of China authorized the National Interbank Funding Center to announce the latest LPR: the 1-year LPR was 3.45%, unchanged, and the 5-year and above LPR was 3.95%, lowered by 25 basis points from the previous month. The sharp drop in LPR sends a clear signal that the government aims to stabilize growth and promote development, further promote the reduction of financing costs for the real economy, and thus helping to boost market confidence and expectations. Overseas, the United States and the European Union have launched a new round of sanctions against Russia, which may affect Russian metals. This boosted nickel price. Therefore, SHFE nickel rose sharply to 3.16% yesterday. From a fundamental point of view, due to the successive resumption of work by downstream plants after the holiday, spot market transactions picked up. Nickel price is expected to swing on a strong note.