Nickel extended its biggest gain since May on speculation better-than-expected U.S. jobs data signal demand may rise in the world’s second-largest user of industrial metals. Nickel increased as much as 0.5 percent, advancing for a second day. Employers in the U.S. added 248,000 workers to payrolls in September, more than the 215,000 forecast in a Bloomberg survey, the Labor Department said Oct. 3. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 percent last month, the lowest since July 2008. “The U.S. economic growth seems good at the moment,” said Chae Un Soo, a metals trader at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. “It will increase demand for metals.” Nickel for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as $76 to $16,626 a metric ton and was at $16,579 at 10:06 a.m. in Hong Kong. The metal rose 3.3 percent to close at $16,550 on Oct. 3, the biggest gain since May 19. Copper in London climbed 0.1 percent to $6,646.25 a ton, while in New York, the metal for delivery in December advanced 0.2 percent to $3.0055 a pound. The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed through Oct. 7 for a public holiday. On the LME, aluminum and zinc rose, while tin and lead hadn’t traded. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-06/nickel-ex...