MCX Nickel futures prices crashed by around 10% on the week ended on Friday, mainly on increased offerings by market participants on dull demand from Asian producers, amid reports of lower global output of stainless steel in 2007.
Copper futures and gold futures prices also weakened marginally on continued offerings by operators following weak international markets. Crude oil futures are also down by nearly 4% over the previous week mainly on global worries.
The nickel April contract was traded lower at Rs 1,146 per kg, down by nearly Rs 9% over the previous week. The volume was 377 tonne (142 tonne) and open interest was 568 tonne (224 tonne).
Global stainless steel production reached 27.6 million metric tonne in 2007, down 2.9% year-on-year, according to preliminary figures released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF).
The active copper April contract was traded lower at Rs 340.90 per kg, down by Rs 2. The volume was 12,643 tonne (17,738 tonne) and open interest was 9,840 tonne (8,907 tonne). A firmer dollar limited the appeal of dollar-priced commodities. Gold and most base metals were also lower.
The April ’08 crude oil contracts were lower by 2% to trade at Rs 4,179 per barrel, down by Rs 74 over the previous week. Total volume was down at 5.60 lakh barrels (15.30 lakh barrels), while open interest was around 11.34 lakh barrels (8.81 lakh barrels).
Crude oil slipped on Friday after rising sharply on Thursday, as US crude oil inventory rose and as markets digested worrying comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke over the economy.
The active April gold contract was down by 4% at Rs 11,731 per 10 gram. Total volume was 9,204 kg, up from 2,952 kg. Open interest increased to 6,012 kg from the previous week’s 3,753 kg.