METALS-London copper inches higher even as demand concerns persist

BEIJING, Sept 4 (Reuters) - London copper prices inched upward on Wednesday after heavy sell-offs sent the market to a two-week low in the previous session, while concerns over global economic outlook and demand for the industrial metal still weighed on sentiment. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 0.5% at $9,000.50 per metric ton, as of 0146 GMT. The contract fell 2.5% on Tuesday to its lowest level since Aug. 13. The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 lost 1.8% to 72,110 yuan ($10,140.48) a ton. U.S. manufacturing contracted at a moderate pace in August amid some improvement in employment, but a further decline in new orders and higher inventory suggested factory activity could remain subdued for a while. The data fanned worries about a hard landing for the world's biggest economy, with traders already nervous ahead of crucial U.S. monthly payrolls data on Friday. Also weighing on demand outlook was the lacklustre manufacturing activity in top consumer China, as signalled by its August official survey, and slower growth in new home prices, despite measures to boost property sales. LME aluminium CMAL3 edged 0.2% higher to $2,412 a ton, nickel CMNI3 slid 0.4% to $16,396, zinc CMZN3 was flat at $2,847, lead CMPB3 increased 0.4% to $2,057.50 and tin CMSN3 added 0.2% at $30,790. SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 slipped 0.7% to 19,410 yuan a ton, lead SPBc1 shed 0.3% to 17,225 yuan, nickel SNIcv1 fell 2.2% to 125,950 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 was flat at 23,665 yuan and tin SSNcv1 lost 1.7% to 251,540 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L ($1 = 7.1111 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) (([email protected];)) (( For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX ))