METALS-London copper sheds early gains as dollar firms, trade concerns linger

 (Adds analyst comment, updates prices)
    BEIJING, March 28 (Reuters) - London copper gave up early
gains to trade down slightly on Wednesday, tracking a decline in
equities on a firmer U.S. dollar and as global trade tensions
persisted.
    The dollar index, which gained about 0.3 percent
overnight making metals more expensive for holders of other
currencies and weighing on prices, was trading flat at 0500 GMT.
    However, markets are less volatile now and fluctuations in
the base metals were capped, as reports of behind-the-scenes
talks between Washington and Beijing spurred some optimism,
traders said.
    "Concerns easing around trade friction are likely to see
industrial commodities find support, but volatility is expected
to stay high," ANZ wrote in a note.
    
    FUNDAMENTALS
    * LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal
Exchange (LME) was down 0.3 percent at $6,627 a tonne by
0532 GMT, having risen as much as 0.4 percent earlier in the
session.    
    * SHFE COPPER: The most-traded May copper contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange was flat at 49,470 yuan 
($7,881.03) a tonne, giving up slight gains from early trade.
    * OTHER METALS: All other base metals were trading down with
the exception of Shanghai lead, which gained 0.7
percent to 18.660 yuan a tonne. 
    * COPPER: Vedanta Resources Plc said on Tuesday its
India unit Vedanta Ltd's copper smelting operations at
Thootukudi, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, will be closed
for about 15 days as part of a maintenance shutdown.  

    * ALUMINIUM: China's northern province of Shanxi on Tuesday
offered some of the country's biggest aluminium companies
preferential access to bauxite resources if they transfer
smelting capacity to the region.
    * ALUMINA: The Alunorte refinery in northern Brazil, owned
by Norway's Norsk Hydro ASA, will start shutting down
half of its alumina capacity in the next two weeks to preserve
equipment, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. 
   
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    MARKETS NEWS    
    * Asian shares fell on Wednesday after Wall Street was
knocked hard by concerns about tighter controls on the tech
industry, denting a brief global equities recovery driven by
hopes that the risk of a U.S.-China trade war was easing. 
    
        
   PRICES    
 BASE METALS PRICES                        0500 GMT
 Three month LME copper                        6639
 Most active ShFE copper                      49470
 Three month LME aluminium                     2038
 Most active ShFE aluminium                   13795
 Three month LME zinc                        3272.5
 Most active ShFE zinc                        24900
 Three month LME lead                        2392.5
 Most active ShFE lead                        18655
 Three month LME nickel                       12965
 Most active ShFE nickel                      97060
 Three month LME tin                          20790
 Most active ShFE tin                        141080
                                                   
                                                   
 LME/SHFE COPPER              LMESHFCUc3     906.81
 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM           LMESHFALc3   -1065.31
 LME/SHFE ZINC                LMESHFZNc3     510.71
 LME/SHFE LEAD                LMESHFPBc3      299.2
 LME/SHFE NICKEL              LMESHFNIc3     387.69
 ($1 = 6.2771 Chinese yuan)

    
 (Reporting by Tom Daly, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)