Nickel and lead futures prices on the London Metal Exchange pushed up on the morning of Friday April 16, while most other metals consolidated after a Thursday session that saw copper pulling along most of the other base metals.
Nickel's three-month price was the only one in the complex to not close higher on Thursday - drifting down some $14 from Wednesday close to $16,364 per tonne - but it caught up with the Thursday surge on Friday and was at $16,400 per tonne at 9am. "Nickel was the laggard [on Thursday], with prices coming under some pressure after the Philippines' president, Rodrigo Duterte, signed an order allowing the government to approve new mining contracts, lifting a [ban imposed in] 2012," ING's senior commodities strategist Wenyu...