Nickel highlights

摘要

Sentiment is improving across the base metals complex, as solid macro data continues to point to a more buoyant global economic outlook than bearish commodity speculators had previously positioned for. Technically, there is a case for nickel prices to run higher again after consolidating to unwind the overbought conditions created by the fast short-covering rally earlier in August. Renewed upward price momentum is harder to justify from a fundamental perspective, however. Production cutbacks have been disappointingly few and far between, and have been dwarfed by capacity increases in China and elsewhere. Meanwhile, demand remains poor from the stainless steel sector, though we are still hopeful of improvements on this front as we head towards, and into, the fourth quarter.