Nickel yesterday settled flat at 818.60 but sentiments remain weak and berish as pressure mounted after the news that Jinchuan nickel and Russian nickel were both in ample supply. While the US nonfarm payrolls were reported up 195,000 in June, exceeding the 165,000 expected and the previous 175,000, with unemployment rate unchanged at 7.6%. The recovering employment aggravated market concerns over Fed's exit from QE3. US dollar kept rising to a new high since July 2010 and tended to increase further. S&P lowered the outlook for Portugal from "Stable" to "Negative" due to the political uncertainties in the country, driving the euro to a new low of the year of 1.28. Base metals thus fell across the board as raised market worries that the US Federal Reserve may taper off its QE from September, weighing down the market. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last month the bank could begin tapering its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program by the end of 2013 and wind it down completely by the middle of 2014 if the economy picks up as the central bank expects. The dollar rallied to multi-week highs against the euro and the British pound following the upbeat jobs report, dampening the appeal of the metal. Technically market is under short covering as market has witnessed drop in open interest by -0.14% to settled at 16672 while prices up 3.5 rupee, now Nickel is getting support at 815.9 and below same could see a test of 813.2 level, And resistance is now likely to be seen at 820.4, a move above could see prices testing 822.2.

Trading Ideas:

Nickel trading range for the day is 813.2-822.2.

Nickel sentiments remain weak as pressure mounted after the news that Jinchuan nickel and Russian nickel were both in ample supply.

Draghi said that growth risks for Europe were on the downside and a slew of weak economic data from China also weighed.

Lingering concerns about the economic health for Europe were also pressuring metals prices.