CORRECTED-METALS-Copper steady as China outlook lends support
(Corrects copper's percentage move on Tuesday to a rise of 0.45 pct, not a fall of 0.7 pct) SINGAPORE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - London copper was little changed on Wednesday, underpinned by growing hopes China's consumers will restock after the Lunar new year. Holidays this week in the top consumer of the metal drained liquidity and momentum from the market.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up slightly at $8,243.50 a tonne by 0125 GMT, after having climbed 0.45 percent in the previous session.
* Copper has broken decisively above the $8,000 mark this year to trade in an $8,150-$8,350 band in February, up almost four percent year to date.
* The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed this week.
* China, Taiwan and Hong Kong markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
* Rio Tinto will keep its Gove alumina refinery in Australia open following a last-minute government effort to find a cheaper source of energy, the Northern Territory government said.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares inched higher on Wednesday while the yen was firmer amid conflicting interpretations of Group of Seven comments about the yen's recent weakness.
* The yen swung higher in dramatic style as investors cut bearish positions after an official from the G7 said there were concerns about excessive movements in Japan's currency.
* The G7 nations had sought on Tuesday to cool growing tension over exchange rates sparked by weakness in the Japanese yen, but currency markets found the effort lacking in clarity, triggering a second straight day of volatility. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0700 Germany Wholesale price index 1000 Euro zone Industrial production 1200 U.S. Weekly mortgage market index 1330 U.S. Import prices 1330 U.S. Export prices 1330 U.S. Retail sales 1500 U.S. Business inventories 1530 U.S. EIA petroleum status report PRICES
Base metals prices at 0125 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 8243.50 7.50 +0.09 3.97 SHFE CU FUT MAY3 -- -- -- -- HG COPPER MAR3 374.55 0.15 +0.04 2.55 LME Alum 2119.75 1.75 +0.08 2.35 SHFE AL FUT MAY3 -- -- -- -- LME Zinc 2215.25 5.25 +0.24 7.35 SHFE ZN FUT MAY3 -- -- -- -- LME Nickel 18365.00 0.00 +0.00 7.05 LME Lead 2422.00 8.00 +0.33 3.50 SHFE PB FUT -- -- -- -- LME Tin 24875.00 0.00 +0.00 6.30 LME/Shanghai arb^ --
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Tom Hogue)