METALS-Copper prices range-bound on geopolitical uncertainty

By Hongmei Li

SINGAPORE, June 20 (Reuters) - The most-traded copper contract prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metals Exchange were range-bound on Friday, as market sentiment was mixed amid ongoing uncertainty over the Israel-Iran conflict.

Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel after hitting an Israeli hospital overnight, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying he will make a decision within the next two weeks on whether to get involved on Israel's side.

"A few issues have been stirring the metals market sentiment, and investors are divided on how to assess these, most importantly the Middle East, but also the possible U.S. interest rate cuts, and China's lower consumption, just to name a few," said a Shanghai-based metals analyst at a futures firm.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 eased 0.1% to 78,400 yuan ($10,907.07) per metric ton as of 0103GMT, up 0.04% on the week, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 gained 0.3% to $9,641 a ton and was little changed on the week.

China's refined copper output in May gained 13.6% on the year to 1.25 million metric tons, data on Wednesday showed, in line with April's output, while the country's demand for metals such as copper and aluminium has been muted by summer seasonal weakness.

LME tin CMSN3 gained 0.5% to $32,180, aluminium CMAL3 went up 0.4% to $2,531, and zinc CMZN3 inched up 0.2% to $2,644.5.

SHFE tin SSNcv1 fell 0.9% to 261,390 yuan a ton, aluminium SAFcv1 eased 0.2% to 20,555 yuan, while lead SPBcv1 gained 0.2% to 16,915 yuan, and zinc SZNcv1 inched up 0.1% to 21,925 yuan.

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