Copper higher

Sydney

London copper futures edged higher on Friday after modest losses overnight, with investors exercising caution ahead of a slew of Chinese economic data and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump´s inauguration later in the day.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.3 percent at $5,754.50 a tonne by 0134 GMT.

The metal was headed for its first weekly decline in four weeks after sliding nearly 2 percent on Tuesday in its steepest drop in a month. The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was flat at 46,600 yuan ($6,785) a tonne.

Buoyed by higher government spending and record bank lending, China is expected to report that its economy grew by a steady 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter.

A surprisingly strong print would likely boost global financial markets, particularly commodities, which have already been buoyed by China´s record imports of crude oil, iron ore, copper and soybeans.