The world's two biggest economies are currently holding their latest round of trade talks in Beijing. If they cannot reach a deal to end their trade dispute by March 1, U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to increase to 25 percent from 10 percent.
The London Metal Exchange (LME) complex was broadly higher, buoyed by a slightly weaker dollar, but Standard Chartered said in a note that while metals sentiment had centred on U.S.-China trade talks despite soft macro data, any rally may not last.
"Sporadic rallies driven by external markets and sentiment cannot be sustained, in our view, without evidence of a pick-up in underlying demand conditions," the bank said.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: Three-month LME copper, which shed 17.7 percent last year on concerns the U.S.-China trade row would crimp demand, was up 0.6 percent at $6,144 a tonne, as of 0702 GMT, after ending down 0.7 percent in the previous session.
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 0.4 percent at 48,120 yuan ($7,126.99) a tonne. China will report its January copper import numbers on Thursday.
* SHUTDOWN: President Trump also said on Tuesday he was not happy about a tentative immigration deal reached by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, but he did not anticipate another partial shutdown of the federal government.
* ZINC: London zinc rose 0.3 percent to $2,614.50 a tonne, after closing 1.4 percent lower and touching a two-week low in the previous session.
LME zinc stocks <MZNSTX-TOTAL> are at their lowest since January 2008, although cash zinc was trading at a discount of $6.25 a tonne to the three-month price <CMZN0-3>, versus a premium of $125 in early December, in a sign of weaker immediate demand.
* COLUMN: Nickel rally fades, electric vehicle buzz doesn't: Andy Home.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian stocks reached a more than four-month high, lifted by optimism that the United States and China might be able to hammer out a deal to resolve their nearly year-long trade dispute.