* LME zinc registers biggest jump in a month

* Lead prices slide after LME stocks jump

* GRAPHIC-2018 asset returns: http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl

(Adds closing prices)

By Zandi Shabalala

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Copper jumped to its highest inthree weeks on Wednesday, boosted by a weaker dollar after a newround of U.S.-China trade tariffs proved not as costly asexpected.

China will levy tariffs on about $60 billion worth of U.S.goods in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth ofChinese goods. Washington's new duties, however, were set at 10percent for now, rising to 25 percent by the end of the year,rather than starting immediately at 25 percent. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1W44RZ

Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME)surged to its highest since Aug. 29 at $6,145 a tonne, ending0.6 percent higher at $6,121.

Zinc CMZN3 , meanwhile, closed 3 percent higher at $2,434per tonne, its biggest advance in over a month.

"In some ways the bad news had been priced into the marketsand, if anything, the news on trade had been slightly lesssevere than we had thought it would be," said Capital Economicanalyst Caroline Bain.

"It's still too early to talk about this as sustainable ...It just seems to be a bit of a relief rally after all of the badnews."

Base metals prices have slid this year, largely because offears the U.S.-China trade dispute could choke global economicgrowth and sap demand.

TRADE TENSIONS: China is not afraid of "extreme measures"the United States is taking in their trade war and will use thedispute as an opportunity to replace imports, promotelocalisation and accelerate development of high-tech products,state media said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1W500Y

OTHER ASSETS: The dollar index .DXY eased by 0.2 percentwhile risky assets such as global equities advanced.

COPPER AND ZINC STOCKS: On-warrant stocks of copper MCUSTX-TOTAL rose to 152,750 tonnes but are still down 55percent from the 2018 peak touched in March. Zinc stocks MZNSTX-TOTAL on the LME are near their lowest since April,whereas ShFE zinc inventories ZN-STX-SGH remain barely above adecade low.

DEFICIT: The global zinc market deficit deepened to 32,500tonnes in July, from 14,200 tonnes in June, data from theInternational Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) showed.

LEAD STOCKS: On-warrant stocks of lead available to themarket in LME-registered warehouses jumped 18,850 tonnes, or 39percent, to 67,125 tonnes. This lifted on-warrant stocks fromtheir lowest levels since January 2009. MPBSTX-TOTAL

LEAD PRICES: LME lead CMPB3 fell 2.4 percent to $2,025 atonne, clocking its first decline in six sessions.

PRICES: Aluminium CMAL3 ended down 0.4 percent to $2,026 atonne, tin CMSN3 finished 0.5 percent lower at $18,870 andnickel CMSN3 rose 0.8 percent to $12,500.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS http://tmsnrt.rs/2lvmIzW

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Tom Daly and Melanie BurtonEditing by Mark Heinrich) ((zandi.shabalala@tr.com; +44 207 542 5937; Reuters Messaging:zandi.shabalala.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

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