In other metals, Shanghai Futures Exchange nickel rose by 0.4 percent while ShFE copper cut early losses to turn flat. Shfe lead rallied 3.3 percent as momentum-based buying returned, and ShFE aluminium jumped 2.8 percent on Monday as Chinese markets returned after a week-long break and traders bought the metal, which fell last week when Indonesian officials said they were considering reinstating nickel ore exports.
Rallying lead prices are unlikely to be sustained, with the run higher fuelled by a temporary smelter outage and one player keeping a tight grip on inventories rather than long-term shortages of physical metal, sources said. "Nickel finds itself in a situation where two key producers - Indonesia and Philippines - are both in the midst of revaluating their export policies," analyst Ed Meir of INTL FC Stone said in a report. "A number of (Indonesian) companies have set up... downstream facilities and could be in a position to benefit from any relaxation in export policies, and this, in turn, should weigh on prices."