LME nickel earned 5.5% at the open and hovered at more substantial levels for the first few hours of trade but spiked by almost $3,000 in approximately 20 minutes.
It hit its upper limit of $32,380 a tonne and was higher 14.3% at $32,195 by 1055 GMT, having traded 2,674 lots.
A trader spoke it was unclear what was behind the sudden jump but might be because of computer-driven automated trading systems.
According to the trader, the underlying market is tight in any case. Then if you take Russian hesitation into account, it looks cheap to him.
LME benchmark nickel declined for several days in shallow volumes. It constantly hit its lower trading limits after the trade was resumed after a break to calm the market.
Market Turning to Normal
Traders expressed that LME nickel was moving lower towards levels seen on the Shanghai Futures Exchange throughout that period. On Wednesday, June futures in Shanghai shut the afternoon session up 3% at 205,300 yuan, or approximately $32,222.
LME volumes have gathered up, implying the market is beginning to return to normal after two weeks of chaos. The world’s top nickel trading venue tolerated a record price surge, a six-day trading suspension, and a restart hit by technical glitches.
The LME, possessed by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, suspended nickel trading on March 8 after prices inched by more than 50% to over $100,000 a tonne.
