METALS-London copper subdued amid dollar pressure, Trump's tariff threat

Dec 3 (Reuters) - London copper prices were subdued on Tuesday, after a sell-off in the previous session, due to a firmer U.S. dollar and as uncertainty over potential U.S. tariffs weighed on the market. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 was little changed at $8,995 per metric ton as of 0145 GMT after hitting a more-than-two-week low on Monday. The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SCFcv1 gained 0.6% to 74,150 yuan ($10,174.26) a ton. The U.S. currency was buoyant, making dollar-priced metals costlier for holders of other currencies. USD/ Markets are concerned about President-elect Donald Trump's proposed import tariffs, which could harm global economic growth. His pledges might also disrupt the global metal demand-supply balance and potentially lead to price fluctuations. "We forecast base metal prices to trend lower across 2025 and 2026, with the LME index down by 2.7% in 2025 and 10.1% in 2026, with weaker activity in China the key driver," NAB analysts said. China is the top consumer of industrial metals. The mood in China's manufacturing sector has been depressed for months due to tumbling producer prices and dwindling orders, but recent data suggest the stimulus announcements are improving sentiment on factory floors. LME aluminium CMAL3 fell 0.3% to $2,583 a ton, nickel CMNI3 added 0.1% at $15,710, zinc CMZN3 declined 0.2% to $3,070, lead CMPB3 lost 0.6% at $2,063 and tin CMSN3 rose 0.5% to $28,720. SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 inched up 0.1% at 20,395 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 fell 1.1% to 124,410 yuan, lead SPBcv1 was up 1.2% at 17,645 yuan, tin SSNcv1 steadied at 241,390 yuan and zinc SZNcv1 decreased 0.1% to 25,455 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza) (([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 ))