London copper marks time ahead of China growth report
MELBOURNE, July 16 (Reuters) - London copper edged higher on Monday as markets awaited China's second-quarter economic growth data for clues on how a local debt crackdown and trade tariffs from the United States could be affecting demand.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper nudged up to $6,243.50 a tonne by 0105 GMT, after closing little changed on Friday. Prices last week slumped to the lowest since in almost a year at $6,081 a tonne on concerns that an escalation in trade tariffs would dent demand. Prices have shed 14 percent this year.
* SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper edged up 0.6 percent to 49,100 yuan ($7,339) a tonne, recovering for a third trading session since last week's one year trough.
* CHINA ECONOMY: China is expected to report a modest slowdown in second-quarter economic growth on Monday, as the government's efforts to tackle debt risks crimp activity and a trade war with the United States threatens exports.
* US ECONOMY: The Federal Reserve on Friday pointed to "solid" U.S. economic growth during the first half of the year in its semi-annual report to Congress, where it also reiterated that it expected to continue to raise interest rates gradually.
* COPPER: Former workers from Peru's La Oroya metallurgical plant have teamed up with a consortium of Chinese and Swedish companies to buy the dormant mining complex and a small copper mine in partnership for some $139 million, a union leader said on Friday.
* INVESTORS: Copper speculators switched to a net short position of 12,919 contracts, cutting 20,241 contracts, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in its latest report. This was the weakest position since December 2016.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares were lower on Monday, brushing off the firmer Wall Street lead as investor caution dominated ahead of the release of key Chinese economic data, which is expected to show signs of a slowdown.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
* China Trade data Jun
0600 Germany Wholesale price index Jun
1230 U.S. Import prices Jun
1230 U.S. Export prices Jun
1400 U.S. University of Michigan sentiment index Jul
*No exact timing
PRICES
Three month LME copper
Most active ShFE copper
Three month LME aluminium
Most active ShFE aluminium
Three month LME zinc
Most active ShFE zinc
Three month LME lead
Most active ShFE lead
Three month LME nickel
Most active ShFE nickel
Three month LME tin
Most active ShFE tin
ARBS ($1 = 6.6900 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; editing by Richard Pullin)