Dec 22 (Reuters) - London copper prices held steady on Wednesday as tight supply and renewed risk appetite countered concerns over the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant across the globe.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was flat at $9,531 a tonne, as of 0245 GMT, hovering close to Tuesday's peak of $9,570 - its highest since Dec. 10. The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.6% to 69,440 yuan ($10,897.68) a tonne.
Asian share markets were gaining ground as the risk appetite of global investors rises heading into year-end.
On-warrant copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses
Stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) warehouses
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME aluminium rose 0.2% to $2,759 a tonne, nickel edged 0.3% higher to $19,680 a tonne, lead eased 0.2% to $2,291.5 a tonne and zinc fell 0.4% to $3,415 a tonne.
* ShFE aluminium gained 1% to 19,740 yuan a tonne, nickel rose 1.8% to 145,730 yuan a tonne, zinc was up 0.7% at 23,625 yuan a tonne, lead fell 0.8% to 15,395 yuan a tonne and tin rose 1% to 287,290 yuan a tonne.
* Peruvian Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez strongly urged communities blocking a road used by MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine to clear the route by midday on Wednesday, saying the blockade had created major problems for the country.
* China has the confidence, condition, and ability to keep economic growth at a reasonable level, a senior state planning official told the Xinhua News Agency.
* Japan's biggest copper supplier Pan Pacific Copper expects the metal's average price to drop to $8,600 a tonne in 2022 from $9,300 this year as additional supply from new mines will ease tightness seen in recent years.
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MARKETS NEWS
* The dollar edged down again, starting a third successive session under pressure as investors favoured riskier currencies and asset classes.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 UK GDP QQ YY Q3
1330 US GDP Final Q3
1500 US Consumer Confidence Dec
1500 US Existing Home Sales Nov ($1 = 6.3720 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)