METALS-LME copper little changed as traders await China, US developments

(Updates prices) Dec 5 (Reuters) - London copper prices were little changed on Thursday as market participants sought more clues on China's fiscal stimulus and news on potential U.S. trade tariffs. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 was nearly flat at $9,088 per metric ton by 0704 GMT. Meanwhile, the most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SCFcv1 closed 0.3% down at 74,530 yuan ($10,258.77) a ton. Traders are anticipating additional fiscal stimulus measures from the upcoming Central Economic Work Conference in China, the world's largest consumer of metals. China is not wedded to achieving specific GDP growth rates, and a pace of less than 5% for the economy is acceptable as there is no need for the "worship of speed", state newspaper People's Daily said. The Chinese economy has struggled for momentum largely due to a prolonged property sector crisis. At the same time, the focus is on developments around potential import tariffs proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and any retaliatory action from Beijing. "A (potential) trade war between the U.S. and China comes at a time of already moribund growth in the latter, with trade restriction only to weaken demand further," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com. "I believe that will continue to weigh on commodity demand, especially for copper." ANZ analysts said the supply response will be a dominating factor to rebalance metal markets. "We believe a negative market balance will protect the downside for aluminium prices near $2,400." LME aluminium CMAL3 lost 0.6% at $2,630 a ton while SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 gained 0.2% at 20,505 yuan a ton. LME nickel CMNI3 fell 1% to $15,945, zinc CMZN3 was flat at $3,101, lead CMPB3 steadied at $2,086 and tin CMSN3 dipped 0.1% to $29,020. SHFE nickel SNIcv1 fell 1.8% to 125,070 yuan, while zinc SZNcv1 edged up 0.9% to 25,550 yuan, lead SPBcv1 firmed 0.4% at 17,610 yuan and tin SSNcv1 added 0.1% at 243,440 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Varun H K) (([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 ))