Feb 4 (Reuters) - Copper prices climbed on Friday and were on course for a weekly gain, as a weaker U.S. dollar and low inventories provided strong support despite muted trading due to a week-long holiday in top metals consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.4% at $9,870 a tonne, as of 0308 GMT, putting it on track for a gain of nearly 4% this week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The dollar index was set on Friday for its worst week in nearly two years as the euro held firm at a three-week high and sterling gained after hawkish shifts from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. read more
* A softer U.S. currency makes greenback-denominated metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.
* Copper inventories in LME-approved warehouses at 82,400 tonnes have fallen more than 60% from the 2021 peak scaled in August, with further declines likely.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian equity markets fought for a footing, supported by an Amazon-led bounce in U.S futures, but oil's rise to a seven-year high kept traders on edge over prospects that interest rates will rise to curb global inflationary pressures.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 Germany Industrial Orders MM Dec
1330 US Non-Farm Payrolls Jan
1330 US Unemployment Rate Jan
1330 US Average Earnings YY Jan
1215 - Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent and Chief Economist Huw Pill hold an online briefing for businesses on the central bank's Feb. 3 interest rate decision and new economic forecasts
Most active ShFE copper
Three month LME aluminium
Most active ShFE aluminium
Three month LME zinc
Most active ShFE zinc
Three month LME lead
Most active ShFE lead
Three month LME nickel
Most active ShFE nickel
Three month LME tin Most active ShFE tin
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Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
