Nickel futures were trading higher during the noon trade in the domestic market on Monday as participants widened their bets, driven by pick-up in demand in the spot market.

Analysts attributed rise in nickel futures to building-up of positions by traders due to pick up in demand from alloy- makers in the spot market.

At the MCX, nickel futures for January 2018 contract is trading at Rs 879.40 per kg, up by 1.29 per cent, after opening at Rs 870.30, against a previous close of Rs 868.20. It touched the intra-day high of Rs 888.50 (at 13:07 hours)