Nickel Advances Most in 19 Weeks as Goldman See Rally
By Joe Deaux Oct 3, 2014 3:54 PM ET
Nickel rose the most since mid-May as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it expects prices to recover after the metal entered a bear market this week.
Rising costs stemming from an Indonesian ore-export ban, along with lower Philippine ore deliveries to China, the world’s largest nickel user, will help boost prices to $22,000 a metric ton in 12 months, or 37 percent higher than yesterday’s close, Goldman analysts led by Jeffrey Currie said in a note dated yesterday. Indonesia was the top supplier to China until it implemented the limits in January.
“The Indonesians don’t seem to be relenting on the ore-export ban, so the nickel price is likely to have some upside from here,” Tai Wong, director of commodity products trading at BMO Capital Markets Corp. in New York, said in a telephone interview. “You’ve seen a fair amount of long liquidation in nickel, and I think the market is seeing both consumer and renewed speculative interest.”
Nickel for delivery in three months climbed 3.3 percent to settle at $16,550 a ton at 5:50 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange, the first gain in seven sessions and the biggest increase since May 19.
The metal entered a bear market on Sept. 29, falling more than 20 percent from its May high on record inventories and signs of slowing economic growth in China.
Copper for delivery in three months rose 0.6 percent to $6,642 a ton ($3.01 a pound) on the LME. Prices capped the sixth straight weekly loss, the longest slump since June 2012.
Aluminum and zinc also advanced on the LME, while lead dropped and tin was unchanged.
Copper futures for December delivery closed unchanged at $2.9985 a pound on the Comex in New York, after falling yesterday to the lowest in five months on economic malaise in Europe.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Deaux in New York at jdeaux@bloomberg.net
Source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-03/nickel-advances-before-u-s-payroll-data-as-copper-gains.html
