May 23 (Reuters) - Nonferrous metals prices declined on Tuesday, as a firmer dollar made greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies.
The most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined 1.4% to 64,220 yuan ($9,290.95) a tonne by 0759 GMT, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.8% to $8,061.50 a tonne.
The dollar touched a six-month high against the yen, as expectations grew that U.S. interest rates will remain higher for longer and as the debt-ceiling impasse kept risk sentiment fragile.
LME aluminium eased 0.4% to $2,253.50 a tonne, nickel declined 1.6% to $21,080 a tonne, zinc eased 1.3% to $2,400 a tonne, lead decreased 0.2% to $2,083.50 a tonne, while tin dropped 2.6% to $24,305 a tonne.
SHFE aluminium declined 0.9% to 17,965 yuan a tonne, nickel eased 2.4% to 162,500 yuan a tonne, zinc dropped 3.4% to 19,695 yuan a tonne, tin decreased 3.3% to 192,940 yuan a tonne and lead shed 0.5% to 15,305 yuan a tonne.
Concerns about China's metals demand also weighed on sentiment.
Rising copper inventories in LME exchange warehouses
"The current domestic (Chinese copper) demand is not very prominent, but it is not too pessimistic. The supply of smelting and mine is relatively sufficient, while the inventory is still in a state of depletion, so overall, copper prices may maintain a volatile pattern," said Huatai Futures in a report.
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($1 = 6.9121 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Sohini Goswami and Louise Heavens)
