BEIJING: London copper prices rose to their highest in more than a week on Thursday amid signs China is keeping promises made to the United States as part of a deal to resolve a trade row between the world's top two economies. Chinese companies have made their first major purchases of U.S. soybeans - a commodity at the heart of the trade spat - in more than six months, Reuters reported on Wednesday, while Beijing also appeared to have toned down a high-tech industrial push that has long irked Washington.
Copper is down 14.5 percent year-to-date in London on fears the trade tensions will hurt demand for industrial metals.
"Signs of positive progression in trade talks between the U.S. and China should see sentiment in the commodity market remain positive," ANZ wrote in a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed as much as 1 percent to $6,198.50 a tonne, the highest since Dec. 5, and stood at $6,193 a tonne as of 0705 GMT.
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shrugged off an early dip to close up 0.2 percent at 49,340 yuan ($7,185.19) a tonne for a second successive daily gain.
* OPEN INTEREST: Market open interest in ShFE copper, an indicator of contract liquidity, fell to 483,788 lots on Wednesday, the lowest since February 2017, on end-of-year short covering.
* TRADE: China appears to be easing its high-tech industrial development push, dubbed "Made in China 2025," amid talks between the two countries to reduce trade tensions, according to new guidance to local governments.
* CHILE: BHP said on Wednesday a deal to sell its Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile to private equity fund EMR Capital had been called off because of problems with financing.
* OTHER METALS: London base metals rose across the board on easing trade tensions, with zinc adding 0.9 percent and nickel climbing 0.8 percent.
* NICKEL: Greece is trying to avert the possible closure of Europe's biggest nickel producer Larco and is looking at ways to ensure there are no interruptions to its electricity supply, the country's energy ministry said on Wednesday.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian equity markets rallied on Thursday on signs of easing Sino-U.S. trade tensions and expectations that China will step up efforts soon to support its cooling economy.
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