METALS-London copper steadies on U.S. spending uptick
SINGAPORE, Jan 16 (Reuters) - London copper steadied on Wednesday from two-week lows hit the session before, after a pick-up in U.S. consumer spending bolstered risk appetite, although sluggish global growth prospects kept a lid on prices.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was trading at $8,000 a tonne by 0101 GMT, little changed from the previous day when it hit two-week lows for a second session running, at $7,940 a tonne.
* The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.31 percent to 57,880 yuan ($9,300) a tonne.
* U.S. retail sales gained solidly in December as Americans shrugged off the threat of higher taxes and bought automobiles and a range of other goods, suggesting momentum in consumer spending as the year ended.
* Two dovish Federal Reserve officials pushed back against some of their more hawkish peers on Tuesday, arguing that the U.S. central bank's accommodative policies are appropriate and may even need to be eased further.
* The chairman of the euro zone finance ministers said on Tuesday that the euro was "dangerously high".
* The European Commission has concluded China illegally subsidises steel producers and wants EU members to back punitive tariffs, which could anger the bloc's second-largest trading partner, trade sources said.
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MARKETS NEWS
* World equity markets pared losses on the solid U.S. retail sales data, even as safe-haven Treasury debt rose, spurred by a looming battle in Washington over a limit on the government's borrowing.
* The euro had its winning streak clipped after a top European official complained about its recent run higher, while the yen held firm on Wednesday following a warning about its excessive weakness by a Japanese politician.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0500 Japan Consumer confidence Dec 1000 Euro zone Inflation, final Dec 1330 U.S. CPI Dec 1415 U.S. Industrial output Dec 1500 U.S. NAHB housing market Jan 1530 U.S. EIA petroleum status report
PRICES
Base metals prices at 0101 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 8000.00 6.00 +0.08 0.90 SHFE CU FUT APR3 57880 180 +0.31 0.35 HG COPPER MAR3 363.75 0.00 +0.00 -0.41 LME Alum 2052.00 0.00 +0.00 -0.92 SHFE AL FUT APR3 15240 35 +0.23 -0.68 LME Zinc 1997.25 3.25 +0.16 -3.21 SHFE ZN FUT APR3 15230 -315 -2.03 -2.03 LME Nickel 17500.00 0.00 +0.00 2.01 LME Lead 2292.00 0.00 +0.00 -2.05 SHFE PB FUT 0.00 -15130.00 -100.00 -100.00 LME Tin 24850.00 0.00 +0.00 6.20 LME/Shanghai arb^ 277
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ($1 = 6.2136 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Joseph Radford)