METALS-London copper hits two-week trough as traders cut risk
(Adds detail, updates prices) By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, April 12 London copper eased to a two-week low on Wednesday as traders cut risk amid rising geopolitical tensions with North Korea and ahead of Easter holiday. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a peaceful resolution of rising tensions on the Korean peninsula in a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group steams towards the region. The tensions dented risk appetite in Asia, with gold at five-month highs and yields on top-rated sovereign bonds at their lowest for the year so far. With Easter holidays approaching, the news only encouraged investors to cut positions, analysts said. "We are starting to see some price erosion start to set in over various metals, with the complex's recent high-fliers – copper and zinc – being the most wobbly," Ed Meir of INTL FC Stone said in a report. Producers of a number of metals are ramping up output due to the recent higher prices, while the market is still awaiting an expected seasonal pick-up in demand, he noted. * LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper was down 1 percent at $5,711.50 a tonne by 0713 GMT, after ending a tad firmer on Tuesday. Earlier in the session, it slumped to $5,698 a tonne, a two-week low. * The LME will be closed on Friday and Monday. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper fell by 1.3 percent to 46,230 yuan ($6,704) a tonne. ShFE zinc and nickel remained under pressure, down 1.6 percent and 4 percent respectively, tracking weakness in China's steel sector. * CHINA INFLATION: China's producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March as iron ore and coal prices tumbled, pressured by fears that Chinese steel output is outweighing demand and threatening a glut of the metal. * CHINA PROPERTY: At least 12 major Chinese cities are requiring newly bought homes to be held for at least two to three years before they can be sold, the first time cities in the country are taking such measures and suggesting intensified efforts to cool the red-hot property market. * SOUTHERN COPPER: Union representatives and executives from miner Southern Copper in Peru failed to reach an agreement to end an indefinite strike after a long meeting on Monday night, the union said on Tuesday. * ZINC: Expected shortages of zinc, a metal often favoured by speculators, may not materialise this year because recent price gains have spurred miners around the world to increase output. BASE METALS PRICES 0715 GMT Three month LME 5713 copper Most active ShFE 46210 copper Three month LME 1923.5 aluminium Most active ShFE 3 aluminium Three month LME zinc 2579 Most active ShFE zinc 21270 Three month LME lead 2237 Most active ShFE lead 1 Three month LME 9765 nickel Most active ShFE 78 nickel Three month LME tin 19875 Most active ShFE tin 15 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 295.14 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1439.61 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 191.11 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -2130.47 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 2096 ($1 = 6.8956 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)