SINGAPORE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - London copper was little

changed on Wednesday, underpinned by growing hopes China's

consumers will restock after the Lunar new year. Holidays this

week in the top consumer of the metal drained liquidity and

momentum from the market.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange

was up slightly at $8,243.50 a tonne by 0125 GMT, after having

climbed 0.45 percent in the previous session.

* Copper has broken decisively above the $8,000 mark this

year to trade in an $8,150-$8,350 band in February, up almost

four percent year to date.

* The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed this week.

* China, Taiwan and Hong Kong markets remain closed for the

Lunar New Year holiday.

* Rio Tinto will keep its Gove alumina

refinery in Australia open following a last-minute government

effort to find a cheaper source of energy, the Northern

Territory government said.

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

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian shares inched higher on Wednesday while the yen was

firmer amid conflicting interpretations of Group of Seven

comments about the yen's recent weakness.

* The yen swung higher in dramatic style as investors cut

bearish positions after an official from the G7 said there were

concerns about excessive movements in Japan's currency.

* The G7 nations had sought on Tuesday to cool growing

tension over exchange rates sparked by weakness in the Japanese

yen, but currency markets found the effort lacking in clarity,

triggering a second straight day of volatility.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0700 Germany Wholesale price index

1000 Euro zone Industrial production

1200 U.S. Weekly mortgage market index

1330 U.S. Import prices

1330 U.S. Export prices

1330 U.S. Retail sales

1500 U.S. Business inventories

1530 U.S. EIA petroleum status report

PRICES

Base metals prices at 0125 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg

LME Cu 8243.50 7.50 +0.09 3.97

SHFE CU FUT MAY3 -- -- -- --

HG COPPER MAR3 374.55 0.15 +0.04 2.55

LME Alum 2119.75 1.75 +0.08 2.35

SHFE AL FUT MAY3 -- -- -- --

LME Zinc 2215.25 5.25 +0.24 7.35

SHFE ZN FUT MAY3 -- -- -- --

LME Nickel 18365.00 0.00 +0.00 7.05

LME Lead 2422.00 8.00 +0.33 3.50

SHFE PB FUT -- -- -- --

LME Tin 24875.00 0.00 +0.00 6.30

LME/Shanghai arb^ --

Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Tom Hogue)

((melanie.burton@thomsonreuters.com)(+65 6870 3017)(Reuters

Messaging: melanie.burton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

(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)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. All rights reserved.

The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.