The London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel price increased by US$295/ton and closed at US$17,891/ton on February 29. Meanwhile, the nickel spot price went up by US$303.5/ton to US$176,695/ton. At the same time, the nickel inventory at LME soared by 3,300 tons to 72,630 tons.

The US dollar gradually became stronger, and LME's nickel inventories dramatically rebounded, but the US' Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index (PCE) in January only increased by 0.3% month on month and grew by 2.4% year on year. The increase reached a record low in the past three years, which made market participants believe that this is beneficial for the FED to cut interest rates and further raise nickel prices.