SMM Nickel Market Morning Comment (Mar 26)

Overnight, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract opened at 135,110 yuan/mt, and closed at 133,330 yuan/mt, down 1,380 yuan/mt. Trading volume fell by 43,048 lots, and open interest decreased by 5,215 lots. From a macro perspective, the US Fed has kept the upper limit of its interest rate at 5.5%. The Fed once again maintained interest rates unchanged. Powell's speech has not disclosed when to cut interest rate. This interest rate decision will have little impact on the market. Fundamentally, the progress of nickel ore approval accelerated and production of intermediate product projects in Indonesia ramped up. The market's expectations for tight supply of raw materials began to weaken. Nickel price is expected to go down.