(Adds analyst comment, updates prices)
BEIJING, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Base metal prices on Friday
edged down from near multi-year peaks after U.S. President
Donald Trump backed a stronger dollar, prompting the currency to
trade above its recent lows.
A stronger dollar makes metals more expensive for holders of
other currencies. Its recent weakness had seen copper jump 1.5
percent in Shanghai on Thursday, following a similar climb in
London on Wednesday, while Shanghai nickel gained 3.5 percent.
"The previous day's bounce was too sudden. After the prices
rose, there are not many people looking to buy high," Xu Maili,
director of non-ferrous metal research at Everbright Futures in
Shanghai, said on Friday. "After all, the fundamentals are not
good. A correction is very normal."
Commodity prices could take their next cue from preliminary
U.S. GDP figures for the fourth quarter of last year that are
due Friday, said Edward Meir, commodity consultant with INTL
FCStone.
"If we get an upside surprise in the GDP figure, we could
see a round of dollar short-covering, followed by overdue
profit-taking in a number of commodity complexes," Meir wrote in
a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal
Exchange was down 0.3 percent at $7,119,50 a tonne at
0523 GMT, after a 0.2 percent drop in the previous session. The
metal remains on course for a weekly rise of 1.1 percent.
* INVENTORIES: On-warrant copper stocks in LME-approved
warehouses jumped by 24,825 tonnes to 253,400 tonnes on
Thursday, surging 67 percent over the past week. Headline levels
have climbed by 46 percent to 299,600 tonnes.
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded March copper contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped 0.2 percent to 53,450
yuan ($8,447.12) a tonne.
* CHILE: Chile's state-owned Codelco , the world's
largest copper miner, said on Thursday it had received
environmental approvals for a revised plan to extend the working
life of its century-old El Teniente copper mine.
* FREEPORT: Freeport-McMoRan Inc said it was edging
closer to a permit deal with Indonesia for its massive Grasberg
mine, but the world's second-biggest copper producer cautioned
that it has not yet struck any formal agreements.
* NICKEL: ShFE nickel was the sole gainer among base metals
in early trade on Friday, climbing another 1.1 percent to
103,730 yuan a tonne.
* REUTERS POLL: Supply problems including strikes at copper
mines and pollution shutdowns at aluminium smelters will spur
deeper shortages of the metals this year, but weaker Chinese
demand may weigh on overcooked prices, a Reuters poll showed.
* COLUMN: What does looming U.S.-China trade showdown mean
for aluminium?
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
or
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian stocks came off record highs on Friday but were
still poised to end the week with strong gains, while the
battered dollar won back some ground after Trump's comments on
the dollar.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0745 France Business climate Jan
0900 Euro zone Money supply Dec
0930 UK Preliminary GDP Q4
1330 U.S. Durable goods Dec
1330 U.S. Advance GDP Q4
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0526 GMT
Three month LME copper 7119.5
Most active ShFE copper 53450
Three month LME aluminium 2229.5
Most active ShFE aluminium 14620
Three month LME zinc 3440.5
Most active ShFE zinc 26160
Three month LME lead 2593
Most active ShFE lead 19460
Three month LME nickel 13550
Most active ShFE nickel 103720
Three month LME tin 21220
Most active ShFE tin 147350
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 908.82
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1768.68
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 376.5
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -337.85
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 2126.55
($1 = 6.3276 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and
Joseph Radford)