MANILA, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Nickel prices tumbled on Tuesday on profit-taking, with the Chinese futures market hitting the session’s 8% lower limit after a blistering rally to record highs, as caution prevailed ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting.
The most-traded March nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped to as low as 163,460 yuan ($25,823.88) a tonne.
Nickel futures SNIcv1 in top consumer China scaled fresh peaks above 180,000 yuan on Monday, supported by concerns over low inventories at exchanges and robust demand prospects.
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange CMNI3 was down 1.3% at $22,100 a tonne, as of 0300 GMT, extending losses after a 6.8% slump on Monday.
The metal used to make stainless steel and chemicals for electric vehicle batteries touched $24,435 a tonne last week, the highest since August 2011.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The Federal Reserve will begin its two-day meeting later on Tuesday, with worries over a more hawkish U.S. central bank roiling asset markets around the globe.
* Geopolitical tensions added to investors’ concerns as the U.S. Department of Defense has announced that about 8,500 American troops were awaiting orders to deploy should Russia invade Ukraine.
* Rio Tinto Plc RIO.AX, RIO.L and the Mongolian government have reached an agreement to end a long-running dispute over the $6.93 billion expansion project for the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining project.
* Nickel inventories MNISTX-TOTAL in LME-registered warehouses have fallen 65% since April last year, while those of aluminium MALSTX-TOTAL and copper have dropped 56% and 60%, respectively.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or MET/L MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares and U.S. futures tumbled on Tuesday after a tumultuous Wall Street session, with investors nervous about the situation in Ukraine and eyeing the U.S. Federal Reserve amid worries about a move to tighter monetary policy globally. MKTS/GLOB
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0900 Germany Ifo Business Climate New
0900 Germany Ifo Curr Conditions New
0900 Germany Ifo Expectations New
1500 US Consumer Confidence
PRICES Three month LME copper CMCU3
Most active ShFE copper SCFcv1
Three month LME aluminium CMAL3
Most active ShFE aluminium SAFcv1
Three month LME zinc CMZN3
Most active ShFE zinc SZNcv1
Three month LME lead CMPB3
Most active ShFE lead SPBcv1
Three month LME nickel CMNI3
Most active ShFE nickel SNIcv1
Three month LME tin CMSN3 Most active ShFE tin SSNcv1
($1 = 6.3298 yuan)
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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