The London Metal Exchange (LME) won a legal battle Wednesday against U.S. financial firms that were seeking $472 million in damages from the LME. The LME cancelled billions of dollars of nickel trades after hours of chaotic trading saw nickel prices soar to record highs of more than $100,000 a tonne.

The 146-year-old LME is competing with rivals such as the Shanghai Futures Exchange (Shanghai Futures Exchange) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME Group). It is seeking to keep regulators happy and win back some disgruntled customers while grabbing market share.

Nickel trading volumes on the LME have been improving, with average daily volume (ADV) up 28 per cent year-on-year in October, but still close to half the level it was at in February 2022 before the price spike.

Overall trading volumes on the LME are also slowly recovering, with October's average daily volume up 15.5 per cent on last year, but down 6 per cent from February 2022, before the crisis.

The London Metal Exchange (LME), which is part of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), has restarted trading during the Asian trading session and initiated a fast-track trading process for a new nickel brand to help boost nickel trading volumes.

"The LME can go back to doing its day job - running an exchange," said a head of the LME's trading arm. "They need to get back to basics and run the exchange for their members."
[source - CKN].