Nickel up on new inventory declines

Metals prices were mixed again on Thursday. Gold was up 0.2 percent to $622.60 per troy ounce as it was announced that Turkey will launch its first gold exchange traded fund in September. Among base metals, Copper was 1.8 percent lower to $7,470 per tonne even though the Escondida strike could continue for a lengthy period of time. Nickel, however, added 0.3 percent to $28,850 per tonne, primarily due to another drop of inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses. Stocks were down by 240 tonnes.