Nickel, copper see price gains

Metals prices were higher on Thursday as a number of issues were at work.

High demand and tight supplies sent nickel prices up more than 5 percent. Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange was at $28,750 per tonne, close to the record high set last week. Inventories were down by 720 tonnes during the day to 5,172 tonnes, their lowest since July 1991. A strike action at Inco’s Voisey’s Bay mine was also a concern. Copper was up by over 3 percent to $7,710 per tonne even though a strike-ending agreement at Escondida mine in Chile was expected to be approved by workers.

Among precious metals, gold added $4.70 to $623.70/$624.40 per troy ounce on the proposed sale of Glamis Gold to Goldcorp. Meanwhile, silver was over 4 percent higher to $12.70 per troy ounce, a three-month high.