Wall Street climbs ahead of Fed's minutes
US stock indices rose on Wednesday after a batch of data and ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes.
As of 19:00 GMT, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the November 1-2 meeting, at which policy makers voted to increase interest rates by 75 basis points for the fourth time in a row to 4%, the highest since December 2007.
US durable goods orders rose 1% in October, beating estimates of 0.4%, and up from 0.3% in the previous reading.
US unemployment claims rose to 240 thousand in the week ending November 19, missing estimates of 225 thousand, and up sharply from the previous reading's 223 thousand.
As of 15:33 GMT, Dow Jones rose 0.3%, or 115 points to 34,214, while S&P 500 rose 0.6%, or 22 points to 4,026, as NASDAQ shed 1%, or 112 points to 11,286.
Nickel surges over 5% despite demand concerns
Nickel prices rose on Wednesday as the dollar declined against a basket of major rivals despite concerns about demand.
It comes after the Chinese government announced plans to tighten Covid 19 restrictions even more as more infections spread.
Authorities also revealed last week the first two deaths from Covid 19 in over six months.
As restrictions mount in China, activities slow down and it impacts demand on metals.
China is the world's foremost importer of metals including nickel, therefore prices are impacted by economic events there.
Nickel is used extensively in steel manufacturing and electric batteries for cars.
The dollar index fell 0.6% to 106.6 as of 15:16 GMT, with a session-high at 107.2, and a low at 106.3.
Nickel spot futures rallied 5.2% to $25.7 thousand a tone as of 15:17 GMT.
US durable goods orders rise past estimates
US durable goods orders rose 1% in October, beating estimates of 0.4%, and up from 0.3% in the previous reading.
Core orders, excluding transportation, rose 0.5%, beating estimates of no change, and improving on September's 0.9% decline.