Nickel prices fell by 0.86 per cent to Rs 993.80 per kg in futures trade on Thursday after participants off-loaded their positions in tandem with a weak trend at the London Metal Exchange.
Also, weak trend at the domestic spot markets on sluggish demand kept pressure on the prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, nickel for delivery in June fell by Rs 8.60, or 0.86 per cent, to Rs 993.80 per kg, with a business turnover of 2,484 lots.
Likewise, the metal for delivery in July dropped by a similar margin to trade at Rs 1,002.40 per kg, with a turnover of 384 lots.
Market analysts said a weakening trend at the LME, on demand concerns after the Federal Reserve lowered its growth forecast for the US, and slackened demand from domestic alloy markets led to the decline in nickel futures prices.
Meanwhile, nickel lost 1.1 per cent to USD 21,900 a tonne at the LME.