London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel futures rebounded above US$16,700 last Friday (July 10), closing at US$16,741 per ton, up by US$154 and reaching a half-month high. Driven by this late-week surge, the weekly price rose by US$317 (1.9%), breaking a five-week losing streak. This turnaround pushed monthly growth to 2.78%, steering year-to-date performance back into positive territory at 0.057%.

Prices bottomed at US$16,250 on July 2, a new low for the year. However, the market stabilized as traders grew calm during Indonesia's July mining quota review window. LME inventories held steady at 274,584 tons on Friday, up slightly by 144 tons this month.

While Middle East tensions and a stable US dollar index influenced current trading, investors are turning their attention to US inflation. If inflation cools toward 2%, potential interest rate cuts could support future nickel prices.