BEIJING, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Prices of base metals opened this week lower because of a stronger U.S. dollar and on expectations that subdued demand will outweigh tight supply this year.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange lost 0.3% to $8,457 per metric ton by 0252 GMT, having shed 0.7% in the previous week.
The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slid 0.4% to 68,530 yuan ($9,522.02) per ton.
Copper, often used as an economic bellwether, lost on the U.S. Federal Reserve's remarks last week that pushed back on the idea of an interest rate cut as early as March.
And as traders clawed back bets for aggressive rate cuts by the Fed this year following strong data indicating its economic resilience, the dollar rose to an eight-week high against its major peers on Monday.
A stronger dollar makes it more expensive for non-dollar holders to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
Base metals are in for a subdued 2024 with weak demand damping any bullish supply pressures, judging by the latest Reuters poll of analysts.
Only copper and aluminium are expected to see average higher prices this year and expected gains relative to 2023 are highly modest.
Spot trade in top consumer China slowed down recently as market participants gradually started the Lunar New Year holiday, which will officially kick off on Saturday.
LME zinc dipped 0.2% to $2,446.50 a ton, lead dropped 0.8% to $2,128.50, tin declined 1% to $25,295, aluminium slid 0.5% to $2,222, and nickel lost 0.7% to $16,115.
SHFE aluminium declined 0.9% to 18,730 yuan a ton, nickel fell 2.1% to 124,000 yuan, zinc dropped 0.9% to 18,730 yuan, tin was down 2.2% to 210,460 yuan and lead dipped 0.2% at 16,180 yuan.
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($1 = 7.1970 yuan) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sohini Goswami)
