Nickel falls on sluggish spot demand

Nickel prices fell by 0.81% in futures trade today, amid a weak trend in the entire base metals pack overseas.

Subdued demand from alloy-makers in the spot market also put pressure on nickel futures prices.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, October nickel fell by Rs 7.60, or 0.81%, to Rs 929.50 per kg, with a business turnover of 2,364 lots.

The November contract lost Rs 7.50, or 0.79%, to Rs 936.40 per kg, with a trade volume of 203 lots.

Market analysts attributed the fall in nickel futures prices to a weakening trend in the entire base metals pack on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on lingering Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

In addition, subdued demand from alloy-makers in the domestic spot market also put pressure on prices of the metal, they said.

Meanwhile, nickel lost 0.6% to USD 18,969 per tonne at the LME today.