Nickel price up on tight supplies

Metals prices were higher on Wednesday. Among precious metals, gold added $3 by late afternoon in London, trading around $667.55/$668.30 per troy ounce after going as high as $671.85 per troy ounce right after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress. Silver, meanwhile, traded around $13.99/$14.03 per troy ounce after reaching as high as $14.09 during the session.

Among base metals, three-month nickel added over 4 percent to $37,550 per tonne when the number of cancelled warrants – pledges to take delivery of the metal – was up to 54 percent of all London Metal Exchange inventories. If all those pledges are redeemed, according to one source, that would leave less than half a day’s global consumption available in LME warehouses. Aluminium prices were also higher, adding $7 to $2,827 per tonne after finding a two-month high at $2,862 per tonne earlier.