LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices fell to five-week lows on Monday as surging inventories in London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses hit sentiment, while copper was boosted by Chinese data showing a jump in new bank loans.
Aluminium prices on the LME had fallen 0.9% to $2,418 a tonne by 1710 GMT after earlier dropping to $2,410, the lowest since Jan. 10.
Copper gained 0.9% to $8,934 a tonne.
"The headline rise in stocks triggered the selling in the aluminium market and some positive data from China is helping copper," a metals trader said.
Traders said transactions ahead of settlement on Wednesday could create volatility across metals on the LME.
LME aluminium stocks
Aluminium
However, a jump in new bank loans in China to a record 4.9 trillion yuan ($720.21 billion) last month, suggesting the country's central bank is looking to kickstart growth after the lifting of COVID controls, is a plus, traders said.
"It's a positive, but it will take time to feed through," a trader at a commodity-focused fund said. "Meanwhile, the macro elements are still very much in play.
Macro elements are a reference to the U.S. Federal Reserve and its decisions on interest rates, which help determine dollar direction. Clues to Fed policy will come from U.S. consumer price data on Tuesday.
A higher U.S currency typically makes dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies, which could subdue demand for industrial metals.
Meanwhile, rising zinc stocks
Three-month zinc rose 2.1% to $3,106 a tonne.
In other metals, lead was up 1.6% at $2,112 a tonne, tin added 0.7% to $27,550 and nickel slipped 4.7% to $26,485. (Reporting by Pratima Desai; editing by Kirsten Donovan)