Copper futures edge up last week

SYDNEY, Dec 28 (Reuters): Copper futures edged higher last week after losses in the previous two days, as market participants attempted to get a feel for demand amid a brightening US economic picture and a dimming one for China, the world's biggest user of the metal.

A stronger US dollar, though, checked the gains. Trading was also relatively thin ahead of the Christmas holiday.

The US economy grew at a 5.0 per cent clip in the third quarter, its quickest pace in 11 years and the strongest sign yet that growth has decisively shifted into higher gear.

But a Chinese central bank survey published on Monday showed the number of Chinese bankers who believe the country's economy is cooling increased in the fourth quarter from the third, and a "confidence index" of bankers dropped.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed 0.3 per cent to $6,350 tonne by 0700 GMT. It fell more than 1 per cent in the previous two days.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange cut some of its initial losses to be down 0.07 per cent at 45,630 yuan ($7,329) a tonne.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit record closing highs on Tuesday after the U.S. GDP report. Overnight, the U.S. dollar hit its highest level against a basket of major currencies in over eight years, while the euro plumbed 28-month lows against the greenback.

The stronger the dollar, the more expensive U.S.-dollar-denominated commodities such as copper become for non-U.S. investors, dampening appetite for them.

"The movement in the dollar is what's having the most influence in the market today," said a commodities trader in Sydney, who did not want to be named. "It underscores the direction the U.S. economy is heading in 2015."