BEIJING, May 22 (Reuters) - Copper prices trended lower on Wednesday on a steady U.S. dollar, softening demand and higher inventories in top consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) lost 0.5% to $10,802.50 per metric ton by 0214 GMT, cooling after a rally that pushed prices to a record high on Monday.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) was down 0.8% to 86,500 yuan ($11,949.66) a ton.
The dollar was steady against a handful of peers on Wednesday, as the market assessed calls for patience from Federal Reserve officials and awaited the publication of Fed minutes for more insight on the central bank's interest rate path.
A stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
Also weighing on copper was weak physical demand in top consumer China after prices hit record highs and mounting inventories.
Copper warehouse stocks on SHFE stood at 291,020 tons last Friday, more than four times higher than that in the beginning of February.
LME aluminium slipped 0.1% to $2,723.50 a ton, nickel dropped 0.4% to $21,210, zinc was little moved at $3,138.50, tin decreased 0.3% to $33,225, while lead gained 0.5% to $2,348.
SHFE aluminium climbed 0.7% to 21,285 yuan a ton, zinc advanced 0.6% to 24,830 yuan, tin added 0.5% to 279,000 yuan, while lead fell 1.6% to 18,590 yuan, and nickel was flat at 157,820 yuan.
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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 UK Core CPI YY April
0600 UK CPI YY April
1400 US Existing Home Sales April
1800 US Federal Open Market Committee issues minutes from its meeting of April 30-May 1
($1 = 7.2387 yuan) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
