The London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel futures ended a seven-day decline on December 17, rising back toward US$14,400/ton. Despite a stronger US dollar, comments from the Fed regarding potential interest rate cuts next year stimulated base metals. The price rose by US$129 to close at US$14,392/ton, recovering from an eight-month low.

The recent downtrend caused prices to fall by 4.5% over a week, but this rebound reduced the total decline in December to 2.95%.

LME inventories increased by 690 tons to 253,998 tons, and the cumulative decrease has reached 760 tons since December, a reduction of 0.3%.

The entire market sentiment shifted on hopes of a weaker labor market cooling inflation. It was expected that while this recovery provides relief, oversupply and weak demand likely mean continued volatility in the near term.