METALS-Copper stable after touching two-week high

(Updates prices by Asian market close)

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Copper was steady on Thursday after touching a two-week high in the previous session as a lack of fresh catalysts and concerns over rising inventories kept the red metal range-bound.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed daytime trading, nudging 0.14% higher to 102,260 yuan ($14,954.45) a metric ton.

The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, meanwhile, dipped 0.15% to $13,302 a ton as of 0715 GMT.

Post-Lunar New Year gains sent the red metal to a two-week high on both the Shanghai and London exchanges. The Shanghai contract hit a two-week high in overnight trading at 102,830 yuan, while the London benchmark scaled a similar high on Wednesday.

Traders said the rally has halted as there are no fresh catalysts to push prices higher.

Rising inventories also remain a focus for the industry. Copper stored in LME warehouses rose to 249,650 tons, according to latest data from the exchange, the highest since March 2025.

In contrast, COMEX copper stocks dipped on Wednesday, down 528 short tons to 601,037 short tons (545,251.59 tons), the second decline in February as the CME copper premium against its peer on the LME has been largely wiped out.

However, investors remain optimistic about copper after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs, while demand expectations picked up as Chinese markets opened after the Lunar New Year break.

Among other base metals on the SHFE, aluminium added 0.61%, lead ticked 0.30% higher, tin surged 3.32%, zinc dropped 0.28% and nickel shed 0.33%.

Elsewhere on the LME, aluminium dipped 0.41%, zinc also tumbled 0.41%?lead dropped 0.20%, nickel lost 0.61% and tin shed 1.71%.

($1 = 6.8381 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Dylan Duan; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sonia Cheema)