Higher investment risk appetite boosts activity at LME by 11% in 2023

LONDON (Reuters) - Average daily volumes at the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world's largest and oldest metals forum, gained 11% to 593,537 lots in 2023 with lead volumes surging by 46%, the exchange said on Thursday.

Lead got a boost from index trading after it was included in the Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCOM) for the first time last year.

"This reflects growing interest in the LME markets and increased risk appetite from investors, with market open interest also up 25% since the start of January 2023," the exchange said.

Nickel trading volumes at the LME, owned by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, are yet to fully recover from a hit after a chaotic price spike in March, 2022 that forced the LME to shut the market and cancel billions of dollars in deals.

"We have also seen liquidity build and volatility reduce in LME nickel, with December average daily volume up 55% year on year. This momentum appears to have carried in to 2024," the LME said.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by David Evans)