METALS-Copper flat, set for year's largest weekly drop on Europe data
SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - London copper was flat on Friday but set to log its largest weekly loss this year after data showed the euro zone recession deepened more than expected at the end of 2012, eroding demand expectations, and with top consumer China still on holiday.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at $8,236 a tonne by 0106 GMT, little changed from the previous session when it logged a small 0.13 percent gain.
* Copper prices are set to close the week down around 0.70 percent. Prices have tailed back by 1.3 percent from a 4-month peak of $8,346 a tonne hit in early February, but are still up almost four percent for the year.
* The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed this week.
* The euro zone slipped deeper than expected into recession in the last three months of 2012 after its largest economies, Germany and France, shrank at the end of a wretched year for the region.
* The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, offering hope the sluggish labour market recovery may have picked up a step.
* Revenue from commodities trading at global investment banks fell by a quarter last year from 2011, making the asset class the worst performer in the fixed-income business of banks, an industry survey showed on Thursday.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares eased on Friday with investors turning cautious as weak euro zone growth data presaged a bleak outlook ahead of the G20 meeting in this session and on Saturday in Moscow.
* The euro nursed heavy losses on Friday in the wake of the data showing the euro zone slipped deeper into recession than expected late last year, while markets braced for more conflicting comments on currencies at the G20 meeting.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0430 Japan Industrial output revised 0900 Italy Trade balance 1000 Euro zone Eurostat trade 1330 U.S. New York Fed manufacturing 1415 U.S. Industrial output 1455 U.S. Univ of Michigan sentiment index 1930 U.S. CFTC commitment of traders data G20 Finance ministers and central bankers' meeting in Moscow (to Feb. 16)
PRICES
Base metals prices at 0106 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 8236.00 -1.00 -0.01 3.87 SHFE CU FUT MAY3 -- -- -- -- HG COPPER MAR3 374.00 0.25 +0.07 2.40 LME Alum 2157.00 -1.00 -0.05 4.15 SHFE AL FUT MAY3 -- -- -- -- LME Zinc 2189.00 0.00 +0.00 6.08 SHFE ZN FUT MAY3 -- -- -- -- LME Nickel 18290.00 35.00 +0.19 6.62 LME Lead 2406.50 0.00 +0.00 2.84 SHFE PB FUT -- -- -- -- LME Tin 24825.00 0.00 +0.00 6.09 LME/Shanghai arb^ --
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Tom Hogue)