SINGAPORE, Dec 31 (Reuters) - London copper inched up on

Monday and was on track for an annual rise of 4 percent, but

concerns about the absence of a deal to avert a U.S. 'fiscal

cliff' even as the deadline draws near is expected to keep a lid

on prices.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange

inched up 0.3 percent to $7,907 a tonne by 0101 GMT, but was

headed for a 1 percent drop this month.

* The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai

Futures Exchange edged down 0.3 percent to 57,520 yuan

a tonne, headed for a monthly rise of 1 percent and annual gain

of nearly 5 percent.

* The U.S. Senate adjourned for the day on Sunday as

Republicans and Democrats remained at odds over a deal to

prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day.

The Senate will reconvene at 1600 GMT on Dec. 31.

* Investors will watch China's official purchasing managers'

index (PMI) due at 0100 GMT on Jan. 1, which is expected to show

China's factory activity in December probably expanded at its

fastest pace in eight months.

* Hedge funds and money managers had slashed the size of

their net long positions in U.S. copper futures and options by

nearly 40 percent in the week ended Dec. 24, the U.S. Commodity

Futures Trading Commission said.

* For the top stories in metals and other news, click , or

MARKETS NEWS

* Equity futures were slightly higher on Sunday night as

talks continued in Washington over resolving the 'fiscal cliff.'

* The dollar inched down against a basket of currencies on

Monday, after rising to a two-week high in the previous session

as uncertainty about the U.S. fiscal talks drove investors to

seek safety in the greenback.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0145 China HSBC Mfg PMI Final Dec 2012 CNPMIC=ECI

1530 US Dallas Fed Texas manufacturing index for December

PRICES

Base metals prices at 0101 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg

LME Cu 7907.00 21.00 +0.27 4.04

SHFE CU FUT APR3 57520 -160 -0.28 3.90

HG COPPER MAR3 359.70 0.75 +0.21 4.69

LME Alum 2066.00 3.00 +0.15 2.28

SHFE AL FUT MAR3 15305 -40 -0.26 -3.41

LME Zinc 2055.25 2.75 +0.13 11.40

SHFE ZN FUT MAR3 15460 -85 -0.55 4.49

LME Nickel 17200.00 0.00 +0.00 -8.07

LME Lead 2323.00 -12.00 -0.51 14.15

SHFE PB FUT 15095.00 -155.00 -1.02 -1.24

LME Tin 23300.00 0.00 +0.00 21.35

LME/Shanghai arb^ 217

Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months

^ LME 3-month copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

((rujun.shen@thomsonreuters.com)(+65-6870-3726)(Reuters

Messaging: rujun.shen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS METALS/

(Reuters 3000Xtra subscribers can access Metals Production Database by clicking on URL below http://mpd.session.rservices.com For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview COMEX copper futures Base metals news All metals news All commodities news Metals diary Foreign exchange rates SPEED GUIDES)

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