METALS-London copper inches up; eyes on US fiscal talk
SINGAPORE, Dec 31 (Reuters) - London copper inched up on Monday and was on track for an annual rise of 4 percent, but concerns about the absence of a deal to avert a U.S. "fiscal cliff" even as the deadline draws near is expected to keep a lid on prices.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange inched up 0.3 percent to $7,907 a tonne by 0101 GMT, but was headed for a 1 percent drop this month.
* The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged down 0.3 percent to 57,520 yuan a tonne, headed for a monthly rise of 1 percent and annual gain of nearly 5 percent.
* The U.S. Senate adjourned for the day on Sunday as Republicans and Democrats remained at odds over a deal to prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day. The Senate will reconvene at 1600 GMT on Dec. 31.
* Investors will watch China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) due at 0100 GMT on Jan. 1, which is expected to show China's factory activity in December probably expanded at its fastest pace in eight months.
* Hedge funds and money managers had slashed the size of their net long positions in U.S. copper futures and options by nearly 40 percent in the week ended Dec. 24, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Equity futures were slightly higher on Sunday night as talks continued in Washington over resolving the "fiscal cliff."
* The dollar inched down against a basket of currencies on Monday, after rising to a two-week high in the previous session as uncertainty about the U.S. fiscal talks drove investors to seek safety in the greenback.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0145 China HSBC Mfg PMI Final Dec 2012 CNPMIC=ECI 1530 US Dallas Fed Texas manufacturing index for December
PRICES
Base metals prices at 0101 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 7907.00 21.00 +0.27 4.04 SHFE CU FUT APR3 57520 -160 -0.28 3.90 HG COPPER MAR3 359.70 0.75 +0.21 4.69 LME Alum 2066.00 3.00 +0.15 2.28 SHFE AL FUT MAR3 15305 -40 -0.26 -3.41 LME Zinc 2055.25 2.75 +0.13 11.40 SHFE ZN FUT MAR3 15460 -85 -0.55 4.49 LME Nickel 17200.00 0.00 +0.00 -8.07 LME Lead 2323.00 -12.00 -0.51 14.15 SHFE PB FUT 15095.00 -155.00 -1.02 -1.24 LME Tin 23300.00 0.00 +0.00 21.35 LME/Shanghai arb^ 217
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)