Nickel futures fall on overseas trend, subdued demand

Nickel futures traded a shade lower at Rs 580.60 per kg today amid a weakening trend at the London Metal Exchange (LME) and sluggish demand from alloy-makers in the domestic spot market.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, nickel for delivery in current month shed 30 paise, or 0.05 per cent, to Rs 580.60 per kg in a business turnover of 926 lots.

On similar lines, metal for delivery in June was trading lower by 10 paise, or 0.02 per cent, at Rs 587.20 per kg in 20 lots.

Market analysts said fall in nickel prices was mostly in line with a weak trend at the London Metal Exchange as most industrial metals retreated after disappointing Chinese economic data, released last weekend.