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MANILA - London copper prices drifted lower for a third straight session on Tuesday as the dollar stood tall versus other currencies on concerns that a rout in the Turkish lira could infect European banks and emerging economies.
Zinc prices traded near a 14-month low reached in the prior session and other metals were also weaker with investors eyeing a slew of Chinese data due Tuesday morning, including industrial output and retail sales for any potential impact of an escalating trade war with the United States.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was off 0.6 percent at $6,114.50 a tonne, as of 0134 GMT. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-traded copper dropped 0.5 percent to 49,450 yuan ($7,179) a tonne.
ZINC: LME zinc hit an early low of $2,469 a tonne, near Monday's trough of $2,462, which was the weakest since June 2017. Shanghai zinc dropped 2.1 percent to 20,805 yuan.
LIRA: The Turkish lira was trading at 6.9100 per dollar in early Asian deals on Tuesday, compared with Monday's record low of 7.24 after the central bank pledged to provide liquidity.
The lira has lost more than 40 percent this month on concerns about President Tayyip Erdogan's reluctance to raise interest rates despite rising inflation and a deepening diplomatic rift with the United States.
MARKETS: With the lira wobbly, the euro hovered near one-year lows against the dollar, making dollar-denominated assets more costly for holders of other currencies. Asian equities and gold were mostly steady.
ESCONDIDA: Chile's copper industry braced for the announcement of a potential strike at the world's biggest copper mine, Escondida, as government-led mediation was expected to close by the end of Monday.
CASERONES: The main union at Chile's Caserones copper mine said both sides had agreed to extend government mediation of labour talks until Thursday.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0200 China Industrial output July
0200 China Retail sales July
0200 China Urban investment July
0600 Germany GDP flash Q2
0645 France Consumer prices July
0900 Germany ZEW economic sentiment Aug
0900 Euro zone GDP flash Q2
0900 Euro zone Industrial production June
1000 U.S. NFIB business optimism July
1230 U.S. Import prices July
1230 U.S. Export prices July
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 = 6.8878 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr., Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
© Reuters News 2018