LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Copper prices extended gains on Tuesday, continuing a recovery from last week's 3.7% decline thanks to lower inventories while investors await U.S. inflation data for a steer on hopes for cuts to interest rates.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.8% at $8,298 a metric ton by 1106 GMT. The metal hit a three-month low of $8,127 on Feb. 9.
While China takes a back seat during the Lunar New Year holidays, a big driver for copper and other industrial metals is today's U.S. inflation data, which could provide an indication when the Federal Reserve might start easing monetary policy, said ING commodities strategist Ewa Manthey.
High U.S. interest rates support the U.S. currency, which makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for buyers using other currencies and also weakens investor sentiment towards growth-dependent commodities.
The U.S. January inflation data is due at 1330 GMT.
Copper, widely used in power and construction, is down 3.6% this month on concerns about demand from top consumer China and its property sector in particular.
"We believe the short-term outlook remains bearish to neutral for copper demand and do not foresee a substantial recovery in prices before the second quarter, which should mark the starting point for Fed rate cuts," Manthey said.
On the technical front, copper broke through resistance from its 100-day moving average at $8,294. The next resistance is at 200-day moving average at $8,339.6.
LME daily data showed that copper stocks in LME-registered
warehouses
LME aluminium gained 0.5% to $2,238.5 a ton, zinc was up 0.2% at $2,324, lead fell 0.3% to $2,018.5, tin edged up by 0.1% to $27,330 and nickel was up 0.6% at $16,130. (Reporting by Polina Devitt in London Additional reporting by Neha Arora Editing by David Goodman)