Nickel loses ground following weak Chinese data

Nickel prices fell on Wednesday following Weak industrial data from China, while analysts await the crucial Federal Reserve’s policy decisions today.

Earlier Chinese data showed manufacturing activities shrank for the fourth straight month in January, and it’s expected the manufacturing sector will grow by only 3% this year.

However, prices could still find support from fresh Chinese stimulus.

As for the Fed, it’s expected to leave interest rates unchanged, while providing potential clues on the likely path ahead for policies. 

Zinc fell 0.1% to $2563 a tonne, while aluminum fell 0.6% to $2262, as nickel fell 0.6% to $16,405, while lead shed 0.4% to $2167, as tin rose 0.3% to $26,085. 

At the Shanghai Exchange, zinc fell 0.1% to 21,305 yuan per tonne, while nickel lost 0.8% to 127,330 yuan, as tin fell 0.6% to 218,570 yuan. 

Otherwise, the dollar index fell 0.2%% to 103.1 as of 16:48 GMT, with a session-high at 103.6, and a low at 102.9.

Nickel spot prices fell 1.7% in American trade as of 16:59 GMT to $18,847 a tonne.