The tit-for-tat trade dispute has pushed down metals prices on expectations it could hurt demand, especially from top consumer China. "We started off the year with a series of weak data that raised concerns about demand, but it's a better environment for base metals at the moment given the progress in trade talks," Danske Bank commodities analyst Jens Pedersen said. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) ended 0.2 percent higher at $5,942 per tonne, logging its biggest weekly gain since mid-November.
The dollar rose against the euro, boosted by technical factors after falling earlier on a message that the U.S Federal Reserve will be patient on monetary policy. Indonesia exported 5,260.55 tonnes of refined tin last month, an increase of nearly 51 percent from a month earlier, data from the Trade Ministry showed.
China plans to set a lower economic growth target of 6-6.5 percent in 2019 compared with last year's target of "around" 6.5 percent, policy sources told Reuters, as Beijing gears up to cope with higher US tariffs and weakening domestic demand. China's refined zinc production saw its steepest plunge since 2013 last year amid tight raw material supply, longer maintenance periods and the relocation of the country's top smelter, according to Antaike, the research arm of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
The discount of LME cash zinc to the three-month contract narrowed to $12 a tonne, the smallest since Oct. 15. Nickel was the biggest gainer in the base metals complex, rising 2 percent to $11,460 per tonne after touching its highest since Nov. 15. On-warrant stocks of nickel available to the market in LME-approved warehouses were at their lowest since April 2014 at 144,882 tonnes.
Aluminium fell 1.3 percent to $1,836 per tonne, zinc gained 1.3 percent to $2,492, lead rose 1.3 percent to $2,002, and tin added 0.8 percent to close at $20,300 after touching a six-month high.