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Copper prices ticked down on Tuesday, dropping from the previous session's one-week high and snapping two days of gains which were sparked by expectations of strong demand in China, the world's biggest consumer of industrial metals.
Aluminium gained for a second session as the market was supported by lower global production.
COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange eased 0.5 percent to $6,212.50 a tonne by 0312 GMT after climbing on Monday to its highest since Oct. 15 at $6,331.50 a tonne. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.4 percent to 50,170 yuan ($7,228) a tonne.
CHINA: Copper prices rose in the last two sessions after authorities in China said they would take measures aimed at bolstering growth and liquidity.
MEASURES: China's central bank governor said last week it would roll out targeted measures to help ease company financing problems and encourage commercial banks to boost lending to private firms.
TAX: China's tax cuts next year could exceed the equivalent of 1 percent of gross domestic product, a central bank adviser said, in a sign policymakers might be considering another round of tax reductions.
SUPPORT: "President Xi Jinping's unwavering support for non-state firms to invest in the economy and personal tax cuts helped improve investor sentiment," ANZ said in a report.
TRADE: "However, the gains were somewhat constrained by ongoing trade tension. U.S. President Trump's economic advisor accused China of refusing to engage on trade issues," it said.
GROWTH: China's economic growth cooled to its weakest quarterly pace since the global financial crisis, with regulators moving quickly to calm nervous investors as a years-long campaign to tackle debt risks and the trade war with the United States began to bite.
DEFICIT: The global world refined copper market showed a 47,000 tonnes deficit in July, compared with a 38,000 tonnes deficit in June, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said in its latest monthly bulletin. For the first 7 months of the year, the market was in a 157,000 tonnes deficit compared with a 188,000 tonnes deficit in the same period a year earlier, the ICSG said.
ALUMINIUM: Global primary aluminium output fell to 5.301 million tonnes in September from a revised 5.485 million tonnes in August, data from the International Aluminium Institute showed on Monday. Aluminium rose 0.2 percent to $2,011 a tonne.
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 = 6.9408 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Richard Pullin)
© Reuters News 2018