London copper prices eased on Friday, as investors turned cautious ahead of key US inflation data that could influence US Federal Reserve's rate hike path, while renewed worries about the Omicron coronavirus variant also weighed on sentiment.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange inched 0.1% lower to $9,524.5 a tonne, as of 0310 GMT, but was headed for its first weekly gain in four.
The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.3% at 69,460 yuan ($10,910.75) a tonne.
Tougher COVID-19 restrictions in England escalated concerns over the impact the new variant could have on economic growth and weighed on appetite for riskier assets.
Prices for the metal were, however, supported by low inventories. While on-warrant LME inventories rose to 76,250 tonnes, their highest in over two months, they were down 68% from August high of 238,725 tonnes.
Market will pay close attention to the US consumer price index due at 1330 GMT, where a hotter number could build a case for a quicker Fed taper and earlier-than-expected interest rate rises.
Copper is often used as a gauge of global economic health and tapering could slow recovery in the world's biggest economy.
Fundamentals
LME aluminium was up 0.5% at $2,638.5 a tonne, zinc eased 0.1% to $3,306.5, nickel fell 0.4% to $19,805 a tonne and lead fell 0.4% to $2,276.5 a tonne.
ShFE aluminium gained 0.5% to 18,885 yuan a tonne, nickel shed 1.8% to 145,170 yuan a tonne, and tin ticked 0.2% higher to 285,100 yuan a tonne.
China's Tsingshan Holding Group on Thursday said it had officially started producing nickel matte - an intermediate nickel product that can be further processed into chemicals for electric vehicle (EV) batteries - in Indonesia.
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