Gold futures were at $US1253.80 an ounce while lead fell by 1.2% to $US2007 per tonne and nickel rose by 1.4% to $10,521/t.

UBS noted this week that nickel demand was lifting and around 10% of supply was set to leave the market. "Inventory will buffer the impact short term, but by early 2017 we think this large pile will start to be eaten into," it said.

UBS is forecasting prices of $5.50 per pound next year and $6.25/lb in 2018, against the current price of $4.77/lb.

In softer commodities, cocoa decreased $US26.05/t or 0.97% to $2651.01/t on Wednesday from $2677.06 in the previous trading session, tradingeconomics.com reported. Cocoa dropped 5.05% during the last week, was down 4.71% during the last month and down 14.73% during the last year. Historically, Cocoa reached an all-time high of $4361.58/t in July of 1977 and a record low of $211/t in July of 1965.

Coffee increased 0.72c per pound or 0.48% to 149.52c/lb on Wednesday from 148.80c/lb in the previous trading session, tradingeconomics.com reported. Coffee was up 3.03% during the last week, up 0.75% during the last month and up 11.04% during the last year. Historically, coffee reached an all-time high of 339.86c/lb in April of 1977 and a record low of 42.50c/lb in October of 2001.