Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower during morning trading on Friday May 18, with marginal drops across the complex largely due to a strengthening dollar and nickel the only metal to buck the trend.
Nickel's three-month price climbed 1.2%, outperforming the complex and reaching a high of $14,830 per tonne over the morning.The metal's cash/three-month spread is currently at $65 contango per tonne, back from $66c per tonne on Thursday."Nickel is the mover today across base metals, with China leading the charge on the metal's electric vehicle demand. Shenzen's electrification of more than 16,000 public buses is just an indication of China's appetite for batteries," Geordie Wilkes, head of research at Sucden Financial, told Metal Bulletin. "With regards to aluminium, market participants are still unsure of the full details of the Port Klang re-warranted material. The dollar has strengthened, with investors switching to the stronger fundamentals of US economy, resulting in the complex consolidating gains in the last few days of which we think will hold in the near term," he added. Aluminium's three-month price continues...