SINGAPORE, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Copper prices edged down on Thursday, shedding some of previous session’s gains on worries over slowing global economic growth amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. Trade tensions and higher interest rates are slowing the global economy, though for now there are no signs of a sharp downturn, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said, lowering outlook for next year to 3.5 percent from a previously projected 3.7 percent. The United States and China clashed on Wednesday at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting with a U.S. envoy accusing Beijing of using the WTO to pursue “non-market” policies and a Chinese official saying it was Washington that was flouting the rulebook. FUNDAMENTALS: * Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.1 percent at $6,229.50 a tonne, as of 0223 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up 0.2 percent to 49,510 yuan ($7,146.26) a tonne. * Expectations of a supply avalanche have been hitting the nickel market next year due to new capacity in Indonesia, but analysts doubt the plans spearheaded by Chinese firms can be carried out so quickly.
* Nickel stockpiles on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged down to 14,911 tonnes on Wednesday, but still near a three-month high. However, nickel stockpiles on the LME warehouse is still below a five-year low. * The most traded nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost 1.5 percent to 91,000 yuan a tonne, trading around a 11-month low level, while London’s three-month nickel contract edged down 0.1 percent.
