METALS-London copper climbs, Trump raises fresh tariff fears

NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - London copper was slightly higher on Wednesday, but gains were kept in check as caution prevailed after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on copper imports, aimed at boosting U.S. production.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 1.4% at $9,533 a metric ton, as of 0842 GMT.

The dollar bounced back from an 11-week low versus major peers, helped by a rebound in short-term Treasury yields, even as a run of weak economic data weighed on investor sentiment. USD/

Trump, looking to thwart what his advisers see as a move by China to dominate the global copper market, signed an order at the White House directing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to start a national security probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

The same law was used by Trump in his first term to impose 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminium.

"The flows for copper will be impacted and these investigations will disrupt the availability of the metal and create uncertainty," said Soni Kumari, a commodity strategist at ANZ.

Among other metals, LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.8% to $2,659.5, LME zinc CMZN3 added 0.7% at $2,831, nickel CMNI3 climbed 0.7% to $15,435, lead CMPB3 gained 1.1% to $2,015, while tin CMSN3 was up 0.9% at $33,070.

SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 was up 0.3% at 20,615 yuan ($2,839.88) a ton, SHFE copper SCFcv1 eased 0.06% to 77,020 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 slid 0.5% to 23,565 yuan, nickel SNIcv1 dipped 0.5% to 124,130 yuan, lead SPBcv1 gained 0.06% to 17,140 yuan and tin SSNcv1 eased 0.6% to 261,770 yuan.

($1 = 7.2591 Chinese yuan)

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