The price for nickel jumped sharply in a few minutes on Friday without a clear reason. Investors noticed that suddenly much higher volumes were circulating on the commodities market. Possibly there are algorithms that automatically act behind the price fluctuation.
The price for nickel rose by almost 5 percent in London. That was an increase of 500 dollars per tonne. The contracts for nickel futures also reacted strongly and won 6 percent in Shanghai. That is the largest daily movement since January. Then the price fell slightly and fluctuated around $ 12,245.
“Investors are confused,” said analyst Celia Wang of trading company Grand Flow Resources. “Some think we were just experiencing a massive action of algorithm trading.” Celia believes the algorithms, which responded to a drop in nickel prices, suddenly closed their position by buying nickel contracts.
