London Metal Exchange base metals prices failed to rally during the afternoon session on Tuesday May 7, with the furor surrounding fresh trade tension between the United States and China serving only to exacerbate bearish market sentiment.
None fared worse than the LME three-month nickel price, which dipped to a low of $11,990 per tonne low on May 7, the first time the price has dropped below $12,000 per tonne since January 28 when it hit an intraday range of $11,960-11,970 per tonne. An initial weakening in the LME three-month price in response to the US government's suggestion that more and higher trade tariffs would be imposed upon China worsened after bears sold into the negative macroeconomic US/China trade headwind,...