BEIJING  - London copper recovered from early falls to trade slightly higher on Wednesday, supported by signs that top consumer China will take measures to ease the impact of a trade war with the United States.

"The measures will benefit some companies from both China and the U.S.," Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of the Global Times newspaper, said on Twitter.

The market was also supported by concerns in some quarters about supply disruptions due to a mining strike in Peru.

However, an industry association said on Tuesday the strike had failed to draw large numbers of workers and had not affected output at mines in the world's No. 2 copper producer.

"Renewed supply challenges are supporting the copper price, as inventories fell to their lowest level since mid-August at 310,350 tonnes," ANZ said in a note, adding that demand indicators were nonetheless still showing weakness.

FUNDAMENTALS

* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1% at $5,829 a tonne, as of 0505 GMT, after ending 0.2% higher on Tuesday. The most-traded November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.3% to 47,270 yuan ($6,646.51) a tonne by the end of the morning session.

* COPPER: Refined copper cathode production by major Chinese smelters fell by 0.5% in August from a month earlier, according to a survey of producers by research house Antaike.

* OTHER METALS: Zinc rose as much as 0.9% to $2,630 a tonne in London, its highest since Aug. 5, on supply tightness. It added 1.2% in Shanghai to its highest since Aug. 1. Nickel was the laggard, shedding 0.8% in London

* NICKEL: The Asian Nickel conference kicked off in Jakarta on Wednesday, just days after Indonesia confirmed it would expedite a ban on nickel ore exports to the start of 2020.

* NICKEL: The Philippines' mining watchdog has recommended lifting the suspension of a small-sized nickel miner, one of several ore producers ordered in 2016 to halt operations in an industry-wide crackdown, a senior government official said on

Wednesday.

* RUSSIA: Russian aluminium and nickel exports rose in the first seven months of 2019, while copper exports declined, official customs data showed.

* ALUMINIUM: Norsk Hydro, one of the world's largest aluminium producers, said it would close some production in Germany and could lay off more than 700 workers in a bid to increase profitability at its rolled products business.

* COLUMN: China's tin production cuts halt price slide...for now: Andy Home

MARKETS NEWS   

* Bond yields climbed and stock markets held steady, as hopes of easing U.S.-China tensions and diminished risk of a no-deal Brexit prompted traders to take profit before key central bank meetings.   

(Reporting by Tom Daly, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu)

© Reuters News 2019