* Discount for cash copper over 3-month highest since August
* Chinese stimulus impact a second half story (Updates with closing prices)By Pratima DesaiLONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Copper prices steadied on Tuesdayas top consumer China signalled further stimulus measures tosupport economic growth and demand while U.S. President DonaldTrump raised hopes of reaching a trade deal with Beijing.Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed0.4 percent up at $5,920 a tonne. Prices of the metal used inpower and construction have fallen by about 20 percent sinceJune and are holding near 18-month lows."Chinese trade data and industrial production numbers fromEurope suggest the global manufacturing cycle is turning down,which is negative for base metals," said Danske Bank analystJens Pederson."Chinese stimulus will take time. The impact will be seen inthe second half, it is not a second-quarter story."
STIMULUS: China will aim to achieve "a good start" in thefirst quarter, the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC) said, indicating the government is ready to providefurther economic stimulus. TRADE: Trump predicted that Washington would reach a dealwith China to end their tit-for-tat trade war, saying Beijingwants to negotiate and that talks are going well. China's exports fell by the most in two years in December,while its imports also contracted, pointing to further weaknessin the world's second-largest economy in 2019 and deterioratingglobal demand. INDUSTRY: Euro zone industrial output dropped by 1.7 percentin November from October for its biggest fall in nearly threeyears, stoking concerns about the bloc's growth in the finalquarter of 2018. SPREADS: Expectations for an oversupplied copper marketmeant the discount for the cash over the three-month contract closed at a five-month high of $31,50 a tonne onMonday.
"Copper has difficult dynamics for the next six months.Demand is likely to be lacklustre, particularly out of China asthe economy slows and credit growth remains weak," Liberumanalysts said in a note.RUSAL: The U.S. Senate will begin voting on Tuesday on aresolution criticising the Trump administration's decision toease sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch OlegDeripaska, including aluminium giant Rusal . ALUMINIUM: Concern about oversupply, partly down to
expectations of Rusal's aluminium coming to market, also pushedthe discount for the cash over the three-month contract to $29 a tonne, its highest since September.PRICES: Aluminium rose 1 percent to $1,845.50 atonne, zinc was down 1.1 percent at $2,456, lead slipped 0.8 percent to $1,968, tin gained 0.9 percent to$20,670 and nickel climbed 2.5 percent to $11,675.<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top base and precious metals analysis -GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Pratima Desai; additional reporting by by MaiNguyen; Editing by David Evans and David Goodman)