BEIJING, Feb 13 (Reuters) - London copper prices climbed for a second day on Tuesday on a weaker dollar and as global equities bounced back from two-month lows seen last week.
The boost came despite a recent build in both London Metal Exchange (LME) and Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) copper inventories ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday in
China, the world's top copper consumer. Citibank analysts said in a note there were "minimal bullish supply and demand catalysts for copper in the near term".
"We generally expect markets to stabilise given the still-positive outlook for synchronised global growth...however, if the market rout turns into a more pervasive downturn, then
commodities may be hit as a risk asset and via the channel," it added. FUNDAMENTALS: * LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the LME was up
1.1 percent at $6,905 a tonne at 0412 GMT, extending gains from the previous session, when it ended up 1.1 percent. * SHFE COPPER: The most-traded April copper contract on the
ShFE was up for the first time in three days, climbing 1.4 percent to 52,060 yuan ($8,230.83) a tonne by the mid-session interval.
* U.S. DOLLAR: The dollar index edged down 0.1 percent. A weaker dollar makes metals cheaper for holders of other currencies and can support prices.
* OTHER METALS: Zinc, nickel and aluminium made gains of 0.7 percent to 0.8 percent in London and were also trading higher in
Shanghai, where nickel jumped 1.7 percent. Lead remained the laggard, losing 0.2 percent in London and continuing to fall back from its recent 6-1/2 year highs.
* ALUMINIUM: U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss trade matters, as he ponders whether to takes steps to limit steel and
aluminium imports seen as damaging to U.S. businesses. * COPPER: Aurubis AG, Europe's biggest copper smelter, is in advanced negotiations to sell its flat rolled
products unit to German cooper products company Wieland-Werke AG as Aurubis looks to expand into other metals besides copper. * COBALT: Makers of electric vehicle batteries will have to
keep using scarce, expensive cobalt in their products for the foreseeable future despite a push towards higher nickel compositions, materials technology company Umicore said
on Monday.
