May 26 (Reuters) - London copper held steady on Tuesday,
as support from a weaker dollar was offset by higher oil prices
after the latest U.S. strikes on Iran dampened hopes of a swift
resolution to the Middle East conflict and fuelled concerns over
the global economic outlook.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was
steady at $13,672 a metric ton by 0319 GMT.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange was down 0.3% to 105,050 yuan ($15,460.46) a
ton.
U.S. forces on Monday conducted strikes in southern Iran
against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and
missile launch sites, in what it described as defensive actions.
The strikes came as Iran's top negotiator and its foreign
minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a
potential deal with the U.S. to end the three-month-old war.
Brent crude oil prices rose after the U.S. military action.
Higher energy prices have dampened the outlook for metals by
raising concerns that an energy shock could squeeze global
growth and manufacturing.
"Base metals are likely to remain range-bound and sensitive
to headlines in the near term," said Tim Waterer, chief market
analyst at KCM Trade.
"Should a peace deal emerge that meaningfully lowers oil and
drags the dollar lower with it, that would ease inflation
concerns and significantly boost the attractiveness of base
metals."
Elsewhere on the LME, aluminium was unchanged, zinc
rose 0.6%, lead was up 0.1%, nickel lost
1.2% and tin climbed 1.1%.
Among other SHFE metals, aluminium ticked 0.1%
higher, zinc was up 0.5%, lead fell 0.2%,
nickel lost 1.1% and tin added 1.4%.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0500 Japan Leading Indicator Revised Mar
1400 US Consumer Confidence May
($1 = 6.7827 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy
Mazumdar)
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