MELBOURNE, April 6 (Reuters) - London copper eased on Friday
as the dollar rose, but steadied for a second week as
expectations of rising seasonal demand in the second quarter
supported prices.
FUNDAMENTALS
* COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper slipped 0.7
percent to $6,768.50 a tonne by 0740 GMT, paring a 1.4 percent
advance from Thursday. Prices were set to climb by half a
percent this week, the second such gain in a row. This suggests
prices may be settling after logging a 7 percent loss in the
first quarter, the biggest downdraft since the fourth quarter of
2015.
* TRADE: China warned it would fight back "at any cost" with
fresh measures to safeguard its interests if the United States
sticks to its protectionist actions, after U.S. President Donald
Trump threatened an extra $100 billion in tariffs in a worsening
trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies.
* SHFE: The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed for a second
day on Friday for the Tomb Sweeping Festival and will reopen on
Monday.
* TRADE TENSIONS: The United States is willing to negotiate
with China on trade, but only if talks are serious, as previous
attempts produced little progress, a senior U.S. official told
Reuters late on Thursday as trade tensions between the two
nations escalated.
* DOLLAR: The dollar edged higher on Friday, heading for a
second week of gains, as investors cut some bets against the
currency before monthly U.S. payrolls data that may signal price
pressures are growing in the world's biggest economy.
* U.S. ECONOMY: U.S. job growth likely slowed in March as
the boost from mild temperatures faded, but the gains were
probably more than enough to push the unemployment rate down to
4.0 percent, indicating the labour market continues to tighten.
* CONGO: International mining companies have insisted that
Democratic Republic of Congo amend portions of a new mining code
to respect exemptions they were granted by its predecessor.
* BATTERIES: China's securities regulator has approved the
13.1 billion yuan ($1.97 billion) initial public offering of
Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd
(CATL), the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
