On May 14, the LME (London Metal Exchange) spot official price for nickel was $18,940 per ton, while the three-month price was $19,150 per ton. On May 15 and 16, the spot prices were $19,050 and $19,335, respectively, with three-month prices at $19,270 and $19,600 per ton.
The spot price of nickel started at $19,155 and closed higher at $20,030.
LME nickel inventories increased from 80,814 tons to 81,630 tons.
On May 14, the nickel market declined due to profit-taking. Following last month's rally, nickel has seen reduced volatility and remained stable ahead of the release of the U.S. April Consumer Price Index (CPI).
On May 15, nickel prices rose as expectations for an interest rate cut within the year continued due to the slowdown in the U.S. CPI and retail sales. The U.S. April CPI increased by 3.4% year-over-year, meeting market expectations. On a month-over-month basis, it rose by 0.3%, below the expected 0.4%. U.S. April retail sales remained flat at 0% growth, significantly below the anticipated 0.4% increase. This bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve might start cutting interest rates this year.
The upward trend continued on May 16 as the anticipation of rate cuts persisted following the CPI slowdown.
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