METALS-Copper and aluminium drift higher as market awaits tariff details

(Updates prices at 1700 GMT) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Copper and aluminium prices rose on Thursday as investors waited to see whether U.S. President Donald Trump would follow through with his threat to impose tariffs this weekend. Three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.6% to $9,122.50 a metric ton by 1700 GMT while aluminium CMAL3 was a touch firmer at $2,620.50. LME copper has shed 10% since hitting a four-month peak of $10,158 last September. "The problem with all the base metals is that they're in a waiting pattern to figure out what's happening with tariffs," said WisdomTree commodities strategist Nitesh Shah. "That's really throwing a lot of noise into the market and it's hard to see how other fundamentals can be heard above that at the moment." Trump's spokeswoman said on Tuesday that he still planned to make good on his promise to impose new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and possibly China, the world's biggest metals consumer, on Saturday. U.S. Comex copper futures HGc2 gained 0.9% to $4.321 a lb, or $9,526 a ton, representing a $404 premium over the LME price, as investors seek to price in the impact of tariffs. Helping to support the metals market was a slightly weaker dollar index .DXY , which slipped after data showed U.S. economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter and pending home sales fell in December. A softer dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency less expensive for buyers using other currencies. Aluminium paused after climbing by 1.8% on Wednesday after news that the European Union proposed to ban imports of the metal from Russia in a fresh package of sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. LME cash aluminium's discount to the three-month contract CMAL0-3 declined to $1.74 a ton, its weakest since last April. Three weeks ago the discount stood at $30.80. The weaker discount indicates tighter short-term availability of LME stocks MALSTX-TOTAL , which have dropped 48% since May. Among other metals, LME nickel CMNI3 shed 0.6% to $15,410 a ton, zinc CMZN3 added 0.2% to $2,788, lead CMPB3 was up 0.4% at $1,968 and tin CMSN3 gained 0.7% to $30,310. The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. (Reporting by Eric Onstad; Additional reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Jane Merriman and David Goodman) ((eric.onstad@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7093; Twitter https://twitter.com/reutersEricO; Reuters Messaging: eric.onstad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) (( 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 ))