LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) – Copper rebounded on Wednesday following two straight sessions of losses on upbeat Chinese home price data but a stronger dollar reigned in gains. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange added 0.2 percent to $6,821.50 by 1050 GMT after falling over 1 percent on Wednesday. Copper, used in power and construction, is down 1.8 percent so far this week. “We have had some decent data from Chinese new home sales which were the strongest growth for about six months and that’s pretty positive,” said ING analyst Oliver Nugent. “For the most part the likes of copper are bouncing from the selloff yesterday but very sideways trading.” CHINA: China’s new home prices rose in April with an increasing number of smaller cities driving broader growth, pointing to a resilient construction market which is a key industry for industrial metals. DOLLAR: The dollar index added 0.3 percent to trade at its highest in 2018, capping gains in commodities priced in the greenback. NORTH KOREA: North Korea cancelled high-level talks with Seoul, denouncing military exercises between South Korea and the United States, breaking from several months of easing relations on the peninsula. This weighed on risk sentiment. INVENTORIES: Headline copper stocks in LME-approved warehouses sit at 290,825 tonnes after falling 525 tonnes. This is slightly higher than the January low touched last week. ALUMINIUM STOCKS: Aluminium stocks held at three major Japanese ports rose about 9 percent to 267,100 tonnes by the end of April from the previous month, trading house Marubeni Corp said on Wednesday. LITHIUM: China’s Tianqi Lithium is nearing a deal to buy a 24 percent stake in Chile’s Sociedad Quimica Y Minera, one of the world’s biggest lithium producers, for about $4.3 billion. MINING: Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques said resource companies needed to build “the United Nations of the mining industry” to tackle rising resource nationalism and cost inflation. U.S.-CHINA TRADE: The United States is seeking to make a trade deal with China, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said as bilateral talks between the world’s two economic powerhouses resume in Washington this week. BAUXITE: Operations at Societe Miniere de Boke’s bauxite mine in Guinea have restarted following a nearly two-week strike that caused a halt in production of the aluminium ore, the company’s managing director said on Wednesday. OTHER METALS: LME aluminium was down 0.1 percent at $2,330 per tonne, lead slipped 0.2 percent to $2,342, tin was steady at $20,880 while nickel rose 0.5 percent to $14,495.