March 13 (Reuters) - Copper prices in London were nearly unchanged on Wednesday, as traders and investors exercised caution and waited for the results from a meeting of top Chinese smelters.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was nearly flat at $8,658 per metric ton by 0454 GMT.
Top Chinese smelters met on Wednesday to discuss possible actions to cope with the tumbling copper concentrate treatment charges that hurt their profit, sources said, although analysts forecast that the fees could rebound in the second quarter.
The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) advanced 0.4% to 69,990 yuan ($9,737) a ton.
Most base metals prices have been moving sideways in recent sessions, as the bearish and bullish factors balanced each other out.
On the one hand, subdued economic growth outlook and the lack of strong stimulus measures in China weighed on metals prices. On the other, prospects of U.S. rate cuts, a weakening dollar, and supply issue in selected metals lent prices some support.
LME aluminium shed 0.3% to $2,259 a ton, nickel was almost flat at $18,545, zinc was nearly unchanged at $2,560, lead barely moved at $2,143.50 while tin lost 0.3% to $27,430.
SHFE aluminium rose 0.3% to 19,245 yuan a ton, nickel jumped 1.6% to 142,500 yuan, zinc advanced 0.3% to 21,415 yuan, lead edged up 0.2% to 16,300 yuan while tin lost 0.2% to 219,760 yuan.
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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 UK GDP Est 3M/3M Jan
0700 UK GDP Estimate MM, YY Jan
0700 UK Manufacturing Output MM Jan
($1 = 7.1880 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi, additional reporting by Siyi Liu in Beijing; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
