(Updates with closing prices)By Peter HobsonLONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Copper prices rallied on Tuesdayas investors shrugged off new tit-for-tat tariffs by China andthe United States to send stock markets higher and the dollarlower.Fears that a U.S.-China trade war would dampen demand forcommodities have pushed industrial metals sharply lower inrecent months, with copper down 17 percent from a June high.
But with investors already braced for tariffs, copper wassupported by the unexpected resilience of global share pricesand non-U.S. currencies and expectations that stimulus in China,the largest metals consumer, will underpin demand. {FRX/]
"The negative effects of any tariffs and any falling demandin China (as a result) are being effectively countered byincreased infrastructure spending," BMO Capital Markets analystKash Kamal said, adding that the tariff decision "was baked in."
LME COPPER: Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed up 2.4 percent at $6,087 a tonne after touching a14-month low of $5,733 last month.
TECHNICALS: Copper broke above its recent downtrend linecoming in at around $6,040.
TRADE WAR: China said it would levy tariffs on about $60billion worth of U.S. goods after President Donald Trump said hewas imposing 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion worth ofChinese imports and threatened duties on about $267 billionmore. RARE EARTHS: The tariffs did not include rare earthelements. GLOBAL MARKETS: Global share markets rose, with China'sblue-chip CSI300 index adding 2 percent thanks to arally in infrastructure stocks.DOLLAR: The dollar meanwhile hit its weakest since late Julyagainst a basket of major peers, supporting dollar-priced metalsby making them cheaper for buyers with other currencies. China'syuan was steady against the greenback. PERU: MMG revised guidance for 2018 copperconcentrate production at its Las Bambas mine in Peru to375,000-395,000 tonnes from 410,000-430,000 tonnes. ZINC: LME zinc closed up 1.3 percent at $2,349 atonne, rebounding from Monday's near 2-year low but butting upagainst its downtrend line at around $2,380.
DEFICIT: The global zinc market deficit deepened to 32,500tonnes in July from 14,200 tonnes in June, data from theInternational Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) showed.SPREAD: The premium of three-month LME zinc over the cashcontract at $23 was the highest since April last year.OTHER METALS: LME aluminium finished up 0.2 percentat $2,035 a tonne, nickel ended 1.1 percent higher at$12,400, lead gained 0.1 percent to $2,074.50 and tin closed down 0.3 percent at $18,975.<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.Editing by Jan Harvey and Edmund Blair)