Nov 10 (Reuters) - Prices of nonferrous metals fell on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve officials made hawkish comments that signalled there could still be further rate hikes to fight inflation.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.4% to $8,112 per metric ton by 0329 GMT, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined 0.1% to 67,130 yuan ($9,205.73) a ton.
Both contracts are set for the biggest weekly decline in nearly a month, partly because the dollar index was heading for the best weekly gain since Sept. 8.
Fed officials, including Jerome Powell, said on Thursday they are still not sure interest rates are high enough to finish the battle with inflation.
Higher interest rates usually tame economic growth which is correlated with metals demand and could lead to a stronger dollar and make greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies.
LME aluminium fell 0.3% to $2,236 a ton, nickel declined 0.6% to $17,715, zinc decreased 0.5% to $2,588.50, lead shed 0.5% to $2,179 and tin lost 0.7% to $24,675.
SHFE aluminium declined 0.4% to 19,110 yuan a ton, nickel lost 0.5% to 141,130 yuan, zinc fell 0.6% to 21,595 yuan, lead was almost flat at 16,490 yuan and tin edged down 0.3% at 209,750 yuan.
The president of military-ruled Myanmar, where tin mining in a key producing region has been suspended since August, said the country is at risk of breaking apart due to the ineffective management of the recent violence in its border regions with China.
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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 UK GDP Est 3M/3M Sept
0700 UK GDP Estimate MM, YY Sept
0700 UK Manufacturing Output MM Sept
0700 UK GDP Prelim QQ, YY Q3
1500 US U Mich Sentiment Prelim Nov
($1 = 7.2922 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Sohini Goswami)
