BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - Prices of most base metals slipped on Wednesday as a firmer U.S. dollar made the greenback-priced commodity more expensive for buyers, while investors assessed supply outlook for metals.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.1% at $9,917 per metric ton, as of 0135 GMT, reversing previous gains that pushed the contract to a nearly two-year high.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 1.5% to 79,890 yuan ($11,062.49) a ton.
The dollar was back on the front foot on Wednesday, making modest gains after earlier losses from renewed bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, while the yen eased towards the 155-per-dollar level and kept intervention risks from Tokyo high.
Supply outlook for metals was also on investors' radar, as raw material shortages of copper have been a key driver behind the recent rally.
Mining giant Freeport-McMoRan is preparing to ship as much as 900,000 tons of copper concentrate starting in June from its Grasberg mine after positive talks with Indonesia to extend its export licence, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
LME nickel fell 2.2% to $18,840 a ton, tin shed 1.6% to $32,075, aluminium slipped 0.9% to $2,546.50, and lead moved 0.5% lower to $2,232.50, zinc lost 1.4% to 2,917.50.
SHFE zinc was down 0.6% at 23,195 yuan a ton, tin slid 1.4% to 259,470 yuan, aluminium fell 1.5% to 20,400 yuan, nickel lost 2.4% to 141,810 yuan, while lead rose 0.8% at 17,835 yuan,.
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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 Germany March Industrial Output
1200 Brazil March Retail Sales
2350 Japan Bank of Japan to release summary
of opinions from board members at its
April 25-26 policy meeting
($1 = 7.2217 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
