MELBOURNE, July 12 (Reuters) – London copper eased on Thursday after heavy losses in the previous session pushed it to its weakest in a year at one stage as trade tensions between the United States and China undermined confidence in demand for metals.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper eased by 0.2 percent to $6,132.50 a tonne by 0117 GMT, following steep losses in the previous session when prices dropped as low at $6,081 a tonne at one stage, the weakest since July 25 last year.
* SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper traded flat at 48,400 yuan a tonne, also close to one-year lows.
* TRADE: China accused the United States of bullying and warned it would hit back after the Trump administration raised the stakes in their trade dispute, threatening 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods in a move that rattled global markets.
* FREEPORT: The Indonesian government is expected on Thursday to announce the details of a deal to acquire a majority stake in the local unit of U.S. copper miner Freeport McMoRan Inc, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
* GLENCORE: Glencore Plc faces at least two lawsuits by U.S. shareholders accusing the big Anglo-Swiss mining company of having made false and misleading disclosures before it received a subpoena in a corruption probe, and its stock tumbled.