METALS-Copper hits near one-week low on stronger dollar, growth fears

By Ashitha Shivaprasad

June 19 (Reuters) - Copper prices touched a near one-week low on Thursday and other base metals also slipped, dragged down by a strong dollar and mounting global growth fears amid the war between Israel and Iran.

The LME's three-month copper CMCU3 was down 0.4% at $9,618.50 per metric ton by 1600 GMT, after earlier touching its lowest level since June 13 at $9,585.

LME copper has rebounded by 19% since touching the weakest in nearly 19 months at $8,105 in April.

"A stronger U.S. dollar on higher geopolitical concerns tends to weaken U.S. dollar-based prices. Long-only funds are sitting on the sidelines due to elevated risk concerns," said SP Angel analyst John Meyer.

The pullback also reflects reduced activity as U.S. traders are away for the Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, he added.

The dollar firmed, buoyed by rising Middle East tensions and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's cautionary tone on inflation, as oil prices jumped. USD/ O/R

Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as U.S. President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the U.S. would join Israel in air strikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities.

War, elevated oil prices and inflation tend to disrupt supply chains, increase costs, and dampen investment, slowing global growth.

LME copper inventories MCUSTX-TOTAL dropped by 4,025 tons to 103,325 tons, data for Wednesday showed. This marked the weakest level in more than a year.

In recent months, copper has been flowing to the United States, where it attracts a premium due to expectations Trump will impose tariffs on the metal.

LME aluminium CMAL3 fell 0.9% to $2,523.50 a ton.

Meanwhile, premiums for consumers buying aluminium on the physical market in the United States AUPc1 fell more than 7% on Wednesday as traders speculated that U.S. import tariffs on shipments from Canada could be cut, metal industry sources said.

LME zinc CMZN3 rose 0.1% to $2,640 a ton while lead CMPB3 was little changed at $1,992.50, tin CMSN3 dropped 1.3% to $31,950, and nickel CMNI3 was down 0.3% at $15,005.

The International Lead and Zinc Study Group on Wednesday said the global zinc market surplus narrowed in April while the lead market swung to surplus.

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