[SMM Nickel Midday Comment] July 6, nickel prices edged down, and the central bank conducted 1,000 billion yuan of outright reverse repo operations.

SMM Nickel July 6 News:

Macro and Market News:

(1) The People's Bank of China announced that on July 6, 2026, it will conduct a 1,000 billion yuan outright reverse repo operation with a fixed quantity, interest rate tender, and multi-price bidding method, for a term of 3 months (91 days), maturing on October 5, 2026 (postponed in case of holidays).

(2) The State Council issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for Beautiful China Construction". It proposed actively and steadily advancing and achieving carbon peak, implementing the national strategy to actively address climate change, fulfilling nationally determined contributions, solidly advancing carbon peak actions, and fully implementing the dual control system for total carbon emissions and intensity.

Spot Market:

On July 6, SMM #1 refined nickel price fell 750 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In terms of spot premiums, Jinchuan #1 refined nickel averaged 2,300 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous day, and the range for domestic mainstream brand electrodeposited nickel was -400-400 yuan/mt.

Futures Market:

The most-traded SHFE nickel 2609 contract moved sideways in the morning session, closing at 126,920 yuan/mt as of the morning close, up 0.12%.

US non-farm payrolls disappointed, leading to more cautious market assessments of the employment outlook. Expectations for US Fed interest rate hikes cooled significantly, and a sharp drop in the US dollar provided a catalyst for nickel prices to rebound. In the short term, nickel prices are expected to trade in the doldrums within the range of 125,000-135,000 yuan/mt.