(Updates prices; recasts)
By Mai Nguyen
SINGAPORE, March 22 (Reuters) - Base metals on the London Metal Exchange rose on Friday after solid U.S. data helped calm worries over the outlook for the global economy and as the U.S. dollar eased.
Thursday's U.S. economic data was upbeat as initial claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected and mid-Atlantic factory activity rebounded sharply.
The dollar eased against a basket of currencies while sterling gained slightly on news that Prime Minister Theresa May had bought a bit more time to resolve when and how Britain exits from the European Union.
* COPPER, ALUMINIUM: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had climbed 0.2 percent to $6,435 a tonne by 0714 GMT, while aluminium closed up 0.5 percent.
* COPPER OUTLOOK: "We are looking at three months and I think copper will go up ... because we are going to have more demand as part of a cyclical trend," said CRU analyst Chris Wu, referring to seasonally higher growth in China in the second quarter.
* ZINC: London zinc and Shanghai zinc rebounded from earlier falls in the Asian morning session, with inventories depleting in LME warehouses MZNSTX-TOTAL.
* AUSTRALIA: Commodity giant Glencore said it had suspended operations at its McArthur River zinc mine in northern Australia as a cyclone approaches.
* PHILEX: Philippine copper and gold producer Philex Mining Corp said the start of output at its Silangan mine in the south of the country would be delayed by four years until 2022, hit by a national ban on new open-pit mining.
* SHANGHAI: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended down 0.8 percent at 48,940 yuan ($7,302.62) a tonne, while aluminium lost 0.3 percent and nickel fell 2.1 percent.
* YUAN: China's yuan inched down against the dollar as markets turned their attention from the U.S. Federal Reserve's abrupt end to policy tightening this week and instead focused on the economic weakness underpinning that move.
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Three month LME copper
Most active ShFE copper
Three month LME aluminium
Most active ShFE aluminium
Three month LME zinc
Most active ShFE zinc
Three month LME lead
Most active ShFE lead
Three month LME nickel
Most active ShFE nickel
Three month LME tin
Most active ShFE tin
ARBS ($1 = 6.7017 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Joseph Radford
