Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was untraded in official rings, but bid at $5,970 a tonne from $6,025 at the close on Thursday and a 10-month high of $6,235 on Wednesday.

The metal used in power and construction is up about 50 percent since early April when markets started to think the worst of the recession could be over.

Analysts said the comments from Chinese policymakers would reinforce the negative sentiment that had permeated the market since Thursday, when investors retreated on the expectation that prices had gone beyond fundamental strength.

‘Reality is beginning to set in ... Chinese authorities are shifting the emphasis a bit,’ said Steve Hardcastle, analyst at Sucden Financial. ‘There are concerns about the jobs data from the US later today.’

US employment data due at 1230 GMT is expected to show job losses of 320,000 in July from a drop of 467,000 in June. Analysts say numbers from the report are notoriously volatile and often subject to large divisions, but the market uses it as a key gauge of the US economy.

A better or worse than expected number could impact the dollar, often a major influence on metal prices.

Also weighing on copper are stocks in LME warehouses, which at above 292,000 are up more than 10 percent since mid-May.

PERTINENT

Aluminium traded at $2,004.5 a tonne from $1,990 at the close on Thursday. The metal used in transport and packaging is up about 50 percent since April.

Part of the reason behind the gains were expectations of a revival in the auto sector because of government schemes to boost purchases of new cars.

Also pertinent were financing deals to release cash for producers. Analysts estimate about 70 percent of the record 4.56 million tonnes of stocks in LME warehouses are tied up in such deals until next May.

Zinc traded at $1,845 a tonne from $1,846 on Thursday. Traders expected the metal to come under strong pressure from rising stocks in LME warehouses — up more than 80,000 tonnes to 433,525 tonnes over the last three weeks.

‘The deliveries are to the U.S., coming from Asia ... Somebody is trying to support physical premiums in Asia,’ a London-based trader said. Nickel was at $19,500 a tonne from $19,600 at the close on Thursday. About two-thirds of global nickel production is used to make stainless steel, where signs of reviving demand are beginning to emerge.

Also supportive were strikes at Brazil’s Vale Inco’s Sudbury nickel operations and Voisey’s Bay mine in Canada, which account for 85,000 and 77,500 tonnes respectively in a market estimated at above 1 million tonnes.

‘Strikes at the Vale facilities have in the past tended to be prolonged which could result in significant volumes of lost production,’ Barclays Capital said in a note.

Focus in the tin market was still on the dominant position holder which has bought tin for delivery in September and sold it for December.

Tin was bid at $14,500 a tonne from $14,700 a tonne, while battery material lead traded at $1,835 from $1,855 at the close on Thursday.