METALS-Copper trades in narrow range as market awaits fresh catalysts

(Updates prices at SHFE closing time) By Mai Nguyen Nov 27 (Reuters) - Copper prices edged up on Wednesday, supported by a softer dollar, but were confined to a narrow range with market participants eyeing more cues. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 rose 0.5% to $9,045.50 per metric ton by 0717 GMT. The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SCFcv1 closed up 0.4% at 74,130 yuan ($10,217.50) a ton. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday released details of his planned tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, in which he pledged to add "an additional 10% tariff" on all Chinese imports. Copper prices had declined earlier in the week, but eventually bounced back as the tariffs on China have so far been less than expected. "The devil is very much in the detail on all these announcements. It's all headlines and no detail right now," said Guy Wolf, Global Head of Market Analytics at broker Marex. The prices were also supported by a marginally softer dollar, which makes greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies. LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.4% to $2,624 a ton, nickel CMNI3 increased 0.1% to $16,005, tin CMSN3 dropped 1.7% to $28,415, zinc CMZN3 increased 1.3% to $3,115.50 and lead CMPB3 advanced 0.5% to $2,031. SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 fell 0.1% to 20,575 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 declined 1.4% to 126,520 yuan, tin SSNcv1 dropped 2.8% to 235,670 yuan, while zinc SZNcv1 rose 2.9% to 25,830 yuan and lead SPBcv1 increased 0.3% to 17,235 yuan. China's October industrial profits narrowed their declines, helped by a low base the previous year, but headwinds on earnings remain stiff with the economy still battling weak demand and deflation pressures. Market participants have been hoping for China to release more stimulus measures to support the economy, which could boost consumption of metals. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L ($1 = 7.2552 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Varun H K and Janane Venkatraman) (([email protected]; Reuters Messaging: [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 ))