Copper inched lower on Friday as the euro fell against the dollar on concerns over the eurozone debt crisis, but worries about supply from Chile, where workers went on strike at the world's largest copper mine, lent support.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $9,675 a tonne, 0.10 down from a $9,685 a tonne close on Thursday, when the metal used in power and construction fell to its lowest level this week.
Copper pared earlier gains and turned negative as the dollar rose against the euro, making metals priced in the US currency more costly for holders of other currencies.
The euro eased against the dollar as investors looked past the announcement of a second rescue package for Greece and measures to stop the debt crisis from spreading to focus on how it will be carried out.
Doubts about economic growth and metals demand in top consumer China also weighed on prices, and data showing shrinking factory activity in China added to these concerns.
"The Chinese numbers were nasty," said Nic Brown, an analyst at Natixis. "You are seeing a slowdown in demand, there is no doubt about that. But the question is how long and how painful this soft patch is going to be."
HSBC's China Flash PMI dropped by its fastest pace since March 2009 and pointed to a monthly contraction in the country's vast manufacturing sector for the first time in 12 months, data showed on Thursday.
Supporting copper, though, workers at the world's largest copper mine, Chile's Escondida, pressed ahead with a 24-hour strike on Friday to demand that global miner BHP Billiton raise bonuses linked to lofty earnings.
"Each time (a strike) happens, it reminds the market that copper is tight; it is a constant reminder that it is potentially scarce," Brown said.
Markets are also watching debt talks in the United States, the world's largest economy, which have entered crunch time, with President Barack Obama and top lawmakers engaged in a sometimes chaotic drive to strike a sweeping deficit-reduction deal.
US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said he was not yet near a deal with Obama to avert an unprecedented US debt default.
China is the world's largest consumer of copper, accounting for about 40 percent of global consumption estimated at around 21 million tonnes this year.
In an attempt to rein in persistently high inflation, Beijing has increased interest rates five times since October.
"(Chinese rates) have probably already peaked, and they have already had an impact on activity," a LME trader said.
Copper stocks held in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 1,725 tonnes to 472,325 tonnes but remained about 35 percent higher than in mid-December.
Stocks of nickel in LME-approved warehouses at 101,418 were at their lowest since March 2009 and down more than 30,000 tonnes since the middle of January.
Much of that probably headed to China, which this year so far has imported nearly 100 tonnes of refined nickel and alloy, and helped bolster prices of the metal used to make stainless steel.
Three-month nickel , untraded in rings, was last bid at $23,950, unchanged from its closing price on Thursday.
Aluminium finished at $2,591 a tonne from $2,540, zinc was at $2,498 from $2,450, lead at $2,690 from $2,700 and tin at $28,250 from $28,300.
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