MELBOURNE, March 22 (Reuters) - London copper climbed off
its lowest in three months on Thursday after the U.S. Federal
Reserve signalled a slower pace of rate rises this year, which
weighed on the dollar.
FUNDAMENTALS
* London Metal Exchange copper traded at $6,838 a
tonne by 0230 GMT, extending a small recovery from the previous
session, when prices plumbed a three month trough at $6702 but
finished up half a percent.
* Shanghai Futures Exchange copper rose 0.9 percent
to 51270 yuan ($8,117) a tonne.
* The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates on
Wednesday and forecast two more hikes for 2018 in its first
policy meeting under new Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
* President Donald Trump will announce tariffs on Chinese
imports on Thursday, a White House official said, in a move
aimed at curbing theft of U.S. technology and likely to trigger
retaliation from Beijing and stoke fears of a global trade war.
* Swiss prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday they were
investigating whether miner Rio Tinto paid bribes linked
to the landmark Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine.
* Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace
in March than the previous month as growth in new orders and
output moderated, in a sign that the economy may be losing a
little momentum.
* Among other metals, LME aluminium rallied more
than 1 percent, breaking back above the 200-day moving average
after closing below the key technical level for two sessions in
a row.
* Shfe aluminium however was flirting with its
weakest levels in 14 months, around 13,820 yuan, with more China
production expected to come on stream in coming weeks after the
expiration of the country's winter pollution controls.
