BEIJING: Most base metals advanced on Thursday on hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal, with Shanghai aluminium hitting a near six-month peak on expectations of higher consumption and lower stocks.
FUNDAMENTALS
* ALUMINIUM: The most traded June aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 0.8 percent to 14,270 yuan ($2,120.83) a tonne, the highest since Oct. 31 by mid-day, before closing 0.6 percent up at 14,240 yuan a tonne.
"This recovery is mainly driven by the expectation of China's stimulus to boost consumption of aluminium downstream sectors such as automobiles and home appliances," Helen Lau, analyst at Argonaut Securities, said in a note.
"We are of view that the price rebound should not be sustained in view of possible over-expectation of Chinese stimulus, lacklustre auto market, high utilisation rates of Chinese smelters and weak alumina prices," Lau added.
* ALUMINIUM STOCKS: Aluminium inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell by 14,175 tonnes on Wednesday to 1.03 million tonnes, the lowest since October <MAL-STOCKS>.
* CHINA: China's central bank has no intent to tighten or relax monetary policy, a vice governor said on Thursday, as the market debates how much more support Beijing will give the economy after data showing signs of economic recovery.
* COPPER: ShFE copper rose 0.4 percent to 49,180 yuan a tonne, while three-month LME copper eased 0.2 percent to $6,436 a tonne by 0708 GMT, after closing up 0.6 percent on Wednesday.
* COPPER: The world's top copper miner Codelco has added its first hybrid dumptruck to its fleet at its El Teniente mine, the company said on Wednesday, in a global mining industry that is increasingly seeking to reduce its emissions and environmental footprint.
* TRADE: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and nTreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will travel to Beijing for trade talks beginning on April 30, the White House said in a statement on Tuesday.
* VALE: Brazilian miner Vale SA has filed a lawsuit in the United States against BSG Resources Ltd to force the firm to pay Vale $1.2 billion, as mandated by an arbitrator, the company said on Wednesday.
* DEEPSEA MINING: China and a quest for battery minerals have injected momentum into a long U.N. process to agree a law on deep sea mining, which could be adopted by the end of 2020, if the political will exists, the head of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) said.
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