* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with closing prices)By Eric OnstadLONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - Zinc hit its lowest since earlyJanuary and other industrial metals also fell on Friday asinvestors assessed risks ahead of next week's G20 meeting andrising U.S.-Iran tensions.Base metals had rallied the previous session after the U.S.central bank signalled rate cuts, while U.S. President DonaldTrump approved military strikes against Iran before calling themoff at the last minute, the New York Times reported. "There's a feeling that central banks threw money into thesystem and markets reacted well yesterday, but now you have asobering morning," said Oliver Nugent, analyst at Citigroup inLondon.Nugent said the market was more concerned that freshnegotiations about a U.S.-China trade deal at next week's G20meeting might not go well."Everyone's got the G20 meeting in their sights right now,and holding a position ahead of that is what's dominating themarket," he said."We've cautioned that in the event of a trade escalation,the dollar would rally further, oil would be sold off and coppercould hit $5,500 or even breach that."Benchmark zinc on the London Metal Exchange dropped1.4% in closing open-outcry trading to $2,433 a tonne, havingtouched $2,412, the weakest since Jan. 4.
LME copper ended down 0.03% at $5,971 a tonne afterhitting a near one-month high of $6,027 on Thursday.
Copper scored a 2.5% gain this week, its biggest weeklyincrease since the week ended March 29. The metal has beenbuoyed partly by strike action at Chile's Codelco, the world'slargest copper producer.
* ALUMINIUM PREMIUMS: Premiums for Japanese aluminiumshipments for July to September were set at $108 per tonne, up3% from the current quarter, as tighter supply in Asiaoutweighed fears over weakening demand.
* ALUMINIUM POSITION: LME aluminium "exhibits the largestnet spec short of the complex on our estimate at 19% of openinterest," Alastair Munro at broker Marex Spectron said in anote.LME aluminium shed 0.8% to finish at $1,767.50 atonne.
* CHINA ZINC STOCKS: Zinc inventories in warehousesmonitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed 7.6% fromlast Friday to 86,046 tonnes, the exchange said.
* OTHER METALS: LME nickel retreated from athree-week top struck on Thursday, declining 1.7% to close at$12,090. Lead fell 0.2% to $1,900 and tin lost 0.7% to$19,025.
* For top stories in metals and other news, click or <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Tom Daly in BeijingEditing by Jan Harvey and David Holmes)