METALS-London metals range-bound as market awaits US-China tariff talk update

SHANGHAI, April 29 (Reuters) - Metals in London traded in a tight range on Tuesday as investors tracked developments in the U.S.-China negotiations and a bunch of U.S. economic data.

Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.4% to $9,415 a metric ton, as of 0724 GMT.

The U.S. initial jobless claims and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data are due this week and could sway metal prices as they influence Federal Reserve rate decisions and economic outlook.

U.S. President Donald Trump said progress has been made in talks with China. However, Beijing denied trade talks are occurring and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent failed to back Trump's assertion about tariff talks with China.

China has exempted certain U.S. imports from its retaliatory tariffs, in a sign that the trade war between the world's two biggest economies may be abating. Meanwhile, the Trump administration last week signalled a willingness to de-escalate.

"The trajectory of the U.S.-China trade dispute remains uncertain and the market is eagerly awaiting a clear signal on its future direction," a trader said.

"If tensions escalate further, it could have far-reaching consequences, potentially triggering a global recession."

In other London metals, aluminum CMAL3 rose 0.6% to $2,448 a ton, zinc CMZN3 rose 1.0% to $2,659, lead CMPB3 added 0.2% to $1,970, tin CMSN3 gained 0.6% to $32,220 and nickel CMNI3 was flat at $15,615 a ton.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose 0.3% to 77,600 yuan ($10,677.38)per metric ton.

Support for Shanghai copper prices comes from a massive drop in inventories of the metal CU-STX-SGH in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), which dropped 32% week-on-week to 116,753 tons.

SHFE aluminum SAFcv1 was unchanged at 19,930 yuan a ton, zinc SZNcv1 rose 0.2% to 22,550 yuan, lead SPBcv1 fell 0.2% to 16,895 yuan, nickel SNIcv1 fell 0.1% to 124,180 yuan and tin SSNcv1 was flat at 261,560 yuan.

($1 = 7.2677 Chinese yuan renminbi)

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