Reuters reported that nickel prices touched their highest in more than a year as speculators continued a trend of buying futures on concerns about the potential for shortages following a ban on ore exports from Indonesia.

Other industrial metals made gains, including aluminium, which surged to a five month peak, on prospects that US interest rates would not rise as soon as previously thought.

Three month nickel on the London Metal Exchange reached a session high of USD 17,226 per tonne, its strongest since March 15 last year and closed up 2.3% at USD 17,080.

Prices have risen 23% so far this year, making nickel the best performer in the base metals complex, supported by a ban on shipments of unprocessed ore by top exporter Indonesia.

Mr Nic Brown head of commodities research at Natixis said that "We expect the market to be in a small surplus this year and move into a significant deficit next year if Indonesia holds its course. But beyond that, in 2016 we are going to get more processing plants up and running (in Indonesia), so the shortage could be temporary."

Mr Leon Westgate analyst at Standard Bank said that a 25% rise in LME open interest in nickel suggests long speculative positions have been added, while technical buying and short-covering have also spurred price rises.

Base metals were supported by minutes of the Federal Reserve's March meeting, which suggested US policymakers would be more cautious about raising interest rates than some analysts had expected.

The Fed minutes also dented the dollar, which fell to a three week low against a basket of currencies, further supporting commodities priced in dollars, making them cheaper to buy for consumers outside of the United States.

Sentiment also got a boost from data on Thursday showing US jobless claims fell to a 7 year low. Aluminium was a top gainer, climbing to a high of USD 1,895.75 per tonne, the strongest since October 30 last year, before paring gains to close at USD 1,893, a 1.93% rise.

Mr Westgate said that "Dovish comments from the Fed, particularly in reference to interest rates, should help support prices and premia in respect to keeping the financing game ticking over"

• [Editor:Juan]