BEIJING, Jan 18 (Reuters) - London copper prices rose for a fourth straight session early on Friday, hitting their highest level so far this year, on signs the United States and top metals consumer China are closer to resolving their long-running trade dispute. Copper is on course to add 1.2 percent this week to mark its biggest weekly gains since the week ended Nov. 16. FUNDAMENTALS * LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 0.4 percent to $6,015, the most since Dec. 31, and stood at $6,011 as of 0138 GMT. * SHFE COPPER: The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed 0.7 percent to 47,690 yuan ($7,040.67) a tonne, heading for its best week since September. * TRADE: Trade officials from the United States and China are in discussions to reopen China's market to U.S. chicken exports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the discussions. * COPPER: Chile's Cochilco state copper commission on Thursday maintained its average price prediction of $3.05 per pound for 2019, rising to $3.08 for 2020, amid the continuing U.S.-China trade war and further potential volatility because of Brexit. * ZINC: Shanghai zinc was the top performer, rising as much as 2.5 percent to 21,380 yuan a tonne, the most since Oct. 25. The metal, used to galvanise steel, is set to gain around 5 percent this week for its best week since November. * RUSAL: The U.S. House of Representatives backed legislation on Thursday to keep sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, including aluminium firm Rusal , but the Trump administration is expected to lift them as soon as Friday. * ALUMINIUM: Aluminium stocks held at three major Japanese ports AL-STK-JPPRT had risen 7.2 percent to 316,800 tonnes by the end of December from the previous month, trading house Marubeni Corp said on Friday. * LME: The London Metal Exchange will launch seven new cash-settled futures contracts on March 11, including hot-rolled coil (HRC) steel and alumina, it said on Thursday. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or MARKETS NEWS * Asian stocks gained early on Friday, as hopes for a thaw in the U.S.-China trade conflict fed investor appetites for risk assets. PRICES BASE METALS PRICES 0135 GMT Three month LME copper 6012 Most active ShFE copper 47690 Three month LME aluminium 1852 Most active ShFE aluminium 13395 Three month LME zinc 2539.5 Most active ShFE zinc 21280 Three month LME lead 1970 Most active ShFE lead 17660 Three month LME nickel 11610 Most active ShFE nickel 93590 Three month LME tin 0 Most active ShFE tin 148190 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 356.86 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1162.78 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 690.93 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 1381.17 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 2012.74 ($1 = 6.7735 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Tom Daly; Edited by Shreejay Sinha)