* Zinc touches highest in almost seven months * Lead hits strongest level since Jan. 23 * Yangshan copper premium extends losses (Updates prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Nickel prices surged to theirhighest in nearly nine months on Monday on concern over supplyfrom the Philippines, the leading exporter of the stainlesssteel raw material. Copper and most other industrial metals also pushed higherafter the central bank of top commodities consumer Chinainjected fresh funds into the financial system. "This remains a liquidity-driven market. Most investors arestill expecting the Chinese economy to perform well in thefuture, so they see good reason to stick to the bullish side ofthe market," said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, a partner at Milanconsultancy T-Commodity. Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had climbed 1.7% to $14,610 a tonne by 1600 GMT aftertouching $14,700, its strongest since Nov. 25. Nickel ore output from the Philippines, the world's biggestexporter of the material, dropped 28% year on year to 102,310tonnes by metal content over January-June, data showed.* Also supporting nickel were strong ShFE stainless steelfutures , which climbed as much as 4.2% to 14,775 yuana tonne. Most nickel is used as an alloy to make stainlesssteel. * The Yangshan copper premium , an indicator ofChinese physical demand, fell to $74 a tonne, its lowest sinceearly April and down from $99 a month ago. * LME copper advanced 1.3% to $6,449.50 a tonne,though T-Commodity's Torlizzi was wary of the strong recentgains that have lifted the price by 48% since March and promptedhim to take a short position. "We think the risk of being long here is high and is veryvulnerable to disappointment." * LME copper stocks sank to their lowestlevels in more than 12 years at 110,000 tonnes.
* LME zinc jumped 3.1% to $2,441.50 a tonne, itshighest in nearly seven months, as aluminium rose 0.8%to $1,759.50. Lead added 0.9% to $1,967.50 after touching $1,978,its strongest since Jan. 23, but tin shed 0.9% to$17,440. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or .($1 = 6.9382 yuan) (Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Jan Harvey andDavid Goodman)
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