METALS-London copper hits over two-week high as dollar slumps

NEW DELHI, April 22 (Reuters) - Copper prices in London hit a more than two-week high on Tuesday, tracking a sharp fall in the dollar as U.S. President Donald Trump's ramped-up criticism of the Federal Reserve chairman shook investor confidence in the U.S. economy.

The benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) added 1.2% to $9,298 per metric ton as of 0721 GMT. It briefly hit $9,333 per metric ton, the highest since April 4.

The LME resumed trade after a two-day break for Easter.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose 0.9% to 77,120 yuan ($10,549.64) per metric ton.

The dollar sagged close to the decade-low hit on Monday against the Swiss franc and edged back towards a 3-1/2-year trough versus the euro.USD/

A weaker dollar makes greenback-priced commodities cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.

Trump ramped up his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Monday in a Truth Social post, calling him a "major loser" and demanding that he lower interest rates "NOW" or risk an economic slowdown.

"The crisis of confidence in U.S. markets is deepening as Trump's policies shake up, possibly break, the global economic order," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.

Among other metals, LME aluminium CMAL3 added 0.6% to $2,379.5 a ton, lead CMPB3 rose 0.9% to $1,940, tin CMSN3 was up 1.6% at $31,135, zinc CMZN3 was up 0.8% to $2,596.5, and nickel CMNI3 added 0.2% at $15,660 a ton.

SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 eased 0.2% to 19,745 yuan a ton, zinc SZNcv1 was up 0.3% to 22,285 yuan, lead SPBcv1 firmed 0.06% to 16,950 yuan, while nickel SNIcv1 was up 0.1% at 125,570 yuan and tin SSNcv1 fell 0.6% to 257,860 yuan.

($1 = 7.3102 yuan)

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