Crude oil fell for two consecutive days, and overnight London nickel plummeted by 3.47%. The latest closing price was $20,880, a decrease of $750 compared to the previous trading session, representing a decline of 3.47%. The trading volume was 2,587 contracts, which is 61 contracts less than the previous volume. The open interest decreased by 22.62 million, reaching 142.569 million.
In the domestic futures market, Shanghai nickel experienced a volatile decline during the night trading session, with the downward trend gradually expanding. The main contract, Shanghai nickel 230, closed at 162,940 yuan per ton, down 4,520 yuan, or 2.7%.
On July 17th, the London Metal Exchange (LME) reported nickel inventories of 37,308 metric tons, a decrease of 150 tons compared to the previous trading day.
Today, Shanghai nickel futures opened lower across the board. The main contract, August 2023 (2308), opened at 164,330 yuan per ton, down 3,130 yuan. At 9:20 am, the same contract was trading at 163,540 yuan per ton, down 3,920 yuan. The market for Shanghai nickel opened with a downward trend and remained volatile.
Recently, the hawkish signals from central banks in Europe and the United States have weakened the performance of base metals. Nickel prices are being suppressed by macroeconomic factors and sufficient pure nickel supply. Additionally, weak demand sentiment from downstream buyers has resulted in sluggish spot transactions. As a result, Shanghai nickel is expected to continue its weak and volatile trend, with a likelihood of further decline today.