HANOI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Base metals prices fell on Friday amid rising coronavirus cases that threaten a sustained global economic recovery, erasing earlier gains buoyed by U.S. stimulus plans.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.8% to $7,988 a tonne by 0820 GMT, having risen as much as 0.8% earlier in the session to a one-week high of $8,115.50 a tonne on U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan.
The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended down 0.1% at 58,690 yuan ($9,066.47) a tonne.
Rising virus cases and further lockdowns in top consumer China and other countries pressure markets from equities to oil on Friday, raising worries that the global economy would take longer to recover.
Fitch Solutions analysts see base metals prices easing in the coming months.
"The broader, deeper and strong 2021 economic recovery generally expected by investors is now probably already priced in. Speculative positions are now extremely bullish compared with historical levels, which will limit further upside for prices," Fitch Solutions said in a note.
ANZ analysts on Friday noted that a slight dip in Chinese commodities demand also pressured prices.
LME aluminium fell 0.4% to $1,997.50 a tonne and nickel dropped 1.7% to $17,970. In Shanghai, nickel hit its highest since September 2019 of 136,500 yuan a tonne before easing to close at 132,390 yuan a tonne, up 1.2%.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Top copper producer Codelco is ratcheting up precautionary measures against the coronavirus at its mines amid a recent uptick in infections in the country.
* Scrap metal that meets China's tough new standards is taking up to four weeks to clear customs, scrap professionals said.
* ShFE copper inventories
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($1 = 6.4733 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen, Editing by Shailesh Kuber and David Evans)
