METALS-Copper edges up, but U.S. fiscal worries curb gains
SINGAPORE, Dec 28 (Reuters) - London copper inched up on Friday and was on track for its biggest weekly rise in four weeks, supported by signs that top consumer China's economy is improving, although worries about the U.S. "fiscal cliff" kept investors cautious.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had gained half a percent to $7,951.25 a tonne by 0102 GMT, on course for a 1-percent weekly rise, its biggest in four weeks. It earlier hit a 1-1/2 week high of $7,955.
* The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up 0.4 percent to 57,750 yuan ($9,300) a tonne, headed for a weekly climb of 1.4 percent.
* President Barack Obama will host a meeting on Friday with the four top congressional leaders, a White House aide said, as the president and lawmakers rush to break deadlock over the fiscal cliff days before a year-end deadline.
* Annual growth in China's industrial profits quickened to 22.8 percent in November from October's 20.5 percent, official data showed on Thursday, reinforcing signs of a steady economic recovery thanks to pro-growth policies.
* World unwrought aluminium stocks were at 1.241 million tonnes in November versus a revised figure of 1.3 million in October, International Aluminium Institute (IAI) data showed on Thursday.
* Indonesia will increase its minimum purity requirements for tin ingot exports next year, a trade ministry official said on Thursday, in its latest move to bolster its domestic processing industries.
* LME copper stocks edged up to 318,000 tonnes on Dec. 24, their highest since early February, but down 14 percent from a year earlier. <MCUSTX-TOTAL>
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click , or
MARKETS NEWS
* The yen's downward spiral continued on Friday, with the Japanese currency registering a more than two-year low against the dollar and a 17-month nadir versus the euro in early Asian trading on expectations of more stimulus steps from the country's new government.
* U.S. stocks fell for a fourth day on Thursday, but recovered most of their losses after the House of Representatives, in the barest sign of progress, said it would come back to work on avoiding the fiscal cliff this weekend.
DATA/EVENTS
1445 US Chicago PMI Dec 1500 US Pending home sales Nov
1500 US ECRI Weekly
1930 US CFTC commitment of traders Weekly
PRICES
Base metals prices at 0102 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 7951.25 36.25 +0.46 4.62 SHFE CU FUT APR3 57750 200 +0.35 4.32 HG COPPER MAR3 361.85 1.75 +0.49 5.31 LME Alum 2084.00 4.00 +0.19 3.17 SHFE AL FUT MAR3 15355 05 +0.03 -3.09 LME Zinc 2102.00 0.00 +0.00 13.93 SHFE ZN FUT MAR3 15615 30 +0.19 5.54 LME Nickel 17365.00 90.00 +0.52 -7.19 LME Lead 2335.00 0.00 +0.00 14.74 SHFE PB FUT 0.00 -15240.00 -100.00 -100.00 LME Tin 23400.00 0.00 +0.00 21.88 LME/Shanghai arb^ 371
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ($1 = 6.2360 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Joseph Radford)