Hong Kong - Nickel advanced a second day and led base metals higher after the dollar weakened and loan growth beat estimates in China, the world’s biggest consumer.
The US currency held losses against the euro after slipping 0.8 percent on Thursday from a 12-year high. A weaker dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback more attractive to investors. Aggregate financing in China was 1.35 trillion yuan ($216 billion) in February, the country’s central bank said on Thursday, above the median estimate of 1 trillion yuan by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
“The reason for the recovery in metals has been the dollar falling and the China loans data,” said Hwang Il Doo, a senior metals trader at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Company in Seoul. “It’s a bit early to say if there is a sustained recovery. We need to see consistent good data from China.”
Nickel for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7 percent to $14,000 a metric ton at 3:25 p.m. in Hong Kong.
Copper in London advanced 0.1 percent to $5,848.50 a metric ton ($2.65 an ounce). The metal has gained 1.7 percent this week, the most since the period through February 27. In New York, May futures gained 0.4 percent to $2.6705 a pound, while in Shanghai the metal for the same month rose 0.7 percent to close at 42,840 yuan ($6,845) a ton.
Aluminum in London rose 0.7 percent to $1,761 a ton, while zinc and lead also advanced. Tin rose 1 percent, trimming the biggest weekly drop in almost three months after closing at $17,225 a ton on Thursday, the lowest in more than four years.
Bloomberg