Nickel and copper fall

Nickel fell on Wednesday as investors cashed in on gains after the price reached a 27-month peak last week, while a shortage of the metal following an ore export ban by Indonesia helped limit the downside. Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 1.79 percent to close at $19,500 a tonne, having hit its highest since February 2012 at $21,625 a tonne last week.
"Nickel is no doubt under pressure because traders are trying to find the correct price, given that we had such a massive move for the metal," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, said. But it still shows a large gain for the year to date after top producer Indonesia banned the export of unprocessed ores from January.
"Let's not forget that we are still up nearly 40 percent this year, which is a very hefty gain. Indonesia's export ban should also help to level the demand with supply," Aslam said, adding that nickel could test the next support level of $18,783. China's ore imports from Indonesia slumped by 90 percent, customs data showed, but its exports of refined nickel more than tripled. Spot supplies are in high demand, and the LME cash-to-three-month spread, which is still contango, reached its narrowest since January 2012 on Monday.
Benchmark LME copper fell 0.78 percent to close at $6,831 a tonne, extending losses in the previous session. Copper prices neared $7,000 a tonne late last week, clawing back 10 percent from a March low thanks to falling stockpiles and tightening supply in China. But gains have faltered as consumers have preferred to wait for prices to fall before making fresh purchases. "After the run we've seen in copper, it should be ready for a correction," said analyst Dominic Schnider of UBS Wealth Management in Singapore.
Also reflecting a slowdown in nearby demand, LME cash copper prices have fallen against the benchmark, while in Shanghai, premiums have edged down $5 to $115-$135 in the past few days, according to China-based price provider Shmet. Moody's lowered its outlook for China's property industry, a large copper consumer, to negative from stable, reflecting expectations of slower residential sales growth, high inventory levels and weakening liquidity over the next 12 months.
Chilean copper producer Antofagasta ANTO.L said on Wednesday market conditions were challenging in the short term due to diminished confidence in economic growth in top metals consumer China and additional copper supply coming on stream. In other metals, tin fell 0.41 percent to end at $22,975 a tonne, zinc retreated 0.63 percent to close at $2,067 a tonne, lead was last bid down 0.52 percent at $2,123 a tonne, while aluminium was last bid down 0.17 percent at $1,767 a tonne.