(Updates prices) LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Prices of industrial metals easedon Tuesday as the dollar firmed on positive sentiment from avirtual meeting between the leaders of the world's largesteconomies. The closely watched conversation between Chinese PresidentXi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden yielded no immediateoutcomes but struck a positive tone and was seen as a chance toimprove relations. The dollar index climbed to a 16-month high, makingcopper and other metals, priced in the U.S. greenback, lessattractive to global buyers. "(The interaction between the U.S. and China) is positive,we saw what happened in 2019 and last year with the tradedispute: the macro suffered," said independent analyst RobinBhar, adding that there was a knock-on negative effect on basemetals. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange eased1.3% to $9,549 per tonne by 1740 GMT. U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in October, giving the economy a lift at the start of the fourth quarter andraising the likelihood of a tightening in monetary policy. OUTLOOK: Copper prices are expected to fall as 2022approaches due to accelerated ramp-up of mine supplies andfalling demand, mainly from the slowing Chinese constructionsector, which is the biggest end-user of the metal, CapitalEconomics said. INVENTORIES: On-warrant copper inventories in LME-registeredwarehouses are at their highest in nearly a month at 53,175tonnes . SPREAD: The premium of LME cash copper to the three-monthcontract has plunged to $32.50 from about $1,103.50 amonth ago, pointing to easing concerns of nearby availability ofmetal. ALUMINIUM: Prices for the lightweight metal were draggeddown by falling prices of thermal coal , which loweredproduction costs for smelters in top producer China that arepowered by the fossil fuel. LME aluminium shed 3.2% to $2,571 a tonne and haslost about 18% over the last month. COAL OUTPUT: China said it would continue raising coalsupply as part of attempts to cool prices and increase powergeneration capacity. OTHER METALS: Zinc rose 0.4% to $3,229, lead gave up 1.4% to $2,293 and tin was up 0.7% to $37,750,while nickel shed 0.9% to $19,425. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.,Kirsten Donovan and Steve Orlofsky)
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