METALS-Copper falls as firmer dollar and high inventories weigh

(Updates with official prices)

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Lunar New Year absences make price action difficult to interpret

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Federal Reserve policymakers appear in no hurry to cut rates

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LME copper stocks still rising

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Copper fell sharply on Thursday, giving ?up some of the previous session's gains ?as a firmer dollar, rising inventories and reduced demand because of the Lunar New Year holiday in ?China, the world's biggest metals consumer, weighed on prices.

Benchmark three-month copper on ?the London Metal Exchange was down 1.4% at $12,725 a ?metric ton in ?official open outcry activity, after a 2.3% jump on Wednesday.

Chinese traders are mostly away from the ?market as the Shanghai Futures Exchange is ?closed, reopening on February 24.

"It's really difficult to read too much into the price action this week," said Ole ?Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo ?Bank. "We need ?to get China back and see what happens then, both on the speculative and also on the physical demand in the following ?weeks."

DOLLAR-PRICED METALS BECOME MORE EXPENSIVE The dollar index firmed after minutes from ?the U.S. Federal Reserve suggested policymakers were in no hurry to cut interest rates and that several were open to hikes if inflation proved sticky. A stronger dollar makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for holders of other ?currencies.

Copper stocks ?in LME-approved warehouses meanwhile increased by another 925 tons ?to 225,575 tons, the highest since March 2025.

Offsetting the bearish impact of high ?stocks and the firmer dollar, copper was supported by technicals, Hansen said.

"Since last August, every time we have come down the 50-day moving average has been giving support," he said.

He added the support level was $12,670, while on the upside the $13,000 mark provided "psychological resistance".

In other metals, zinc fell 0.9% to $3,323.50 a ton and aluminium shed ?1.1% to $3,055, after breaking a four-day losing streak on Wednesday. Lead lost 0.4% to $1,956, nickel slid 0.8% to $17,140 and tin edged down 0.1% to $45,875. (Reporting by ?Tom Daly; additional reporting by ?Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru and Swati Verma; Editing by ?Alexandra Hudson and Barbara Lewis)