London Metal Exchange (LME) prices were mixed with most metals within ranges at Thursday's kerb close, traders said.
Bellwether copper closed $2 higher $2,787 a tonne, having peaked earlier at $2,845.
Traders said that low volumes due to the northern hemisphere summer slowdown made for volatile trading conditions. At the same time investor caution was running high.
"The markets look slow and lazy but there is some underlying business. People are very nervous on both sides of the market," one LME trader said.
"Prices looked a bit top-heavy this morning and later we saw a bit of Chinese stopping out," another trader said.
Nickel fell 4.26 percent or $575 to $12,925.
"Nickel broke support at $13,500. There should be some trade buying around these numbers and it could pop up tomorrow, but the emphasis is still on the downside," the second trader said.
The first trader said he had not seen much buying interest in nickel and expected consumers to wait for prices to soften further before buying.
"The market is well supplied physically and they (consumers) are waiting for the price to come down," he said.
Traders said that the price could fall to $12,000 where it would languish for the rest of the month.
"If the price does come down it will probably stay there for the summer," the first trader said.
Aluminium was $2 higher at $1,688, while lead and zinc softened to $873 and $1,024 respectively from $897 and $1,033 on increased availability of stock. Tin was down $50 at $8,650.