METALS-Copper inches up, U.S. fiscal talks in focus
SINGAPORE, Dec 21 (Reuters) - London copper edged up on Friday, but remained near a three-week low hit in the previous session as a mixed bag of U.S. economic data and uncertainty on whether the world's top economy could avoid an imminent fiscal calamity continued to drag.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had climbed 0.3 percent to $7,796 a tonne by 0102 GMT, on course for a 3.3 percent weekly decline, its biggest such loss since early June.
* The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined 0.7 percent to 56,480 yuan a tonne.
* Market participants are keeping a close eye on the progress of the talks in Washington to avoid the "fiscal cliff", $600 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts to take effect in the new year. In the latest news on discussions, House Republican leadership pulled Speaker Boehner's tax bill from the House floor.
* The U.S. economy grew faster than previously thought in the third quarter, helped by exports and government spending, but a sluggish global demand and belt-tightening by Washington looks set to put on the brakes again.
* A rise in first-time applications for unemployment aid last week suggested the U.S. job growth remains modest.
* Peru's mines and energy minister said on Thursday output of copper in the Andean country should nearly double in the next two years.
* Daily global aluminium output rose in November for the second month in a row, figures from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed on Thursday, with output expected to grow in coming months as high premiums keep smelters profitable.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click , or
MARKETS NEWS
* U.S stocks rebounded from early losses on Thursday after Republican House Speaker John Boehner said he would keep working on a solution to the "fiscal cliff" while also slamming President Barack Obama's approach to budget talks.
* The yen struggled near multi-month lows against the greenback and euro on Friday, on track to clinch the title of worst major performing currency of 2012 as the last full trading week of the year draws to a close.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0001 UK GFK consumer confidence Dec
0700 Germany GFK consumer sentiment
0745 France Business climate Dec 1330 US Personal income/spending Nov 1330 US Chicago Fed Nat'l activity Nov 1455 US TR/Univ. Of Michigan final Dec consumer sentiment 1530 US ECRI Weekly 1600 US Kansas City Fed survey Dec
PRICES
Base metals prices at 0102 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 7796.00 24.00 +0.31 2.58 SHFE CU FUT MAR3 56480 -390 -0.69 2.02 HG COPPER MAR3 354.80 1.20 +0.34 3.26 LME Alum 2061.00 1.00 +0.05 2.03 SHFE AL FUT MAR3 15225 -25 -0.16 -3.91 LME Zinc 2069.75 -1.25 -0.06 12.18 SHFE ZN FUT MAR3 15335 -40 -0.26 3.65 LME Nickel 17575.00 0.00 +0.00 -6.07 LME Lead 2325.00 0.00 +0.00 14.25 SHFE PB FUT 0.00 -15320.00 -100.00 -100.00 LME Tin 23325.00 0.00 +0.00 21.48 LME/Shanghai arb^ 343
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Joseph Radford)