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)
