METALS-Most base metals fall on dollar strength; copper steady at 1-month peak

(Update prices) By Violet Li and Mei Mei Chu SHANGHAI, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Base metals were largely lower on Tuesday, as a stronger U.S. dollar made greenback-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies, while copper prices stabilized near a one-month high. Three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.5% to $9,142 per metric ton by 0731 GMT. The dollar hung near its highest in more than two years as traders scaled back rate-cut bets in 2025 after data released last week showed an unexpected job growth acceleration and a 4.1% decline in unemployment rate for last month. The dollar index =USD , which measures the U.S. currency versus six other units, was 0.1% higher at 109.47, as of 0731 GMT, not far from the 26-month high of 110.17 touched on Monday. With President-elect Donald Trump set to return to the White House next week, the focus has been on his policies that analysts expect will boost growth but add to price pressures. The threat of Trump tariffs, along with the Federal Reserve's stated measured approach to rate cuts this year, have lifted Treasury yields and the dollar. "China's commodity imports for December remained relatively strong, reflecting the modest improvement in manufacturing activity in Q4 2024," ANZ Research said in a note. China's imports of unwrought copper and copper products hit a 13-month high in December, rising by nearly 18% year-on-year, customs data showed. The most-traded February copper contract on the SHFE SCFcv1 gained 0.2% to 75,430 yuan ($10,289.88) a ton by the end of the Asia afternoon trade session. LME aluminium CMAl3 rose 0.2% to $2,583 a ton, tin CMSN3 fell 0.2% to $29,800, nickel CMNI3 slipped 0.4% to $15,840, lead CMPB3 slid 0.9% to $1,940 and zinc CMZN3 fell 0.4% to $2,854. SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 rose 0.3% to 20,300 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 gained 0.7% to 127,680 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 dipped 0.8% to 24,045 yuan, lead SPBcv1 lost 0.5% to 16,520 yuan and tin SSNcv1 shed 0.6% to 249,290 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L ($1 = 7.3305 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Violet Li and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Subhranshu Sahu and Eileen Soreng) (([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 ))