US copper ekes out modest gain in rangebound trade

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures settled a shade higher on Tuesday as the market continued to dawdle in familiar ranges due to a host of countervailing fundamental forces, analysts said,

NOTE: For detailed report, click on [MET/L].

* Copper for July delivery HGN8 eked out a 0.10 cent gain by the close to $3.7765 a lb on the COMEX metals division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The session range spanned from $3.7310 to $3.8005.

* By 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT), copper volumes estimated at 14,919 lots. Final volumes on Monday totaled 13,356 lots.

* Open interest in the market fell by 179 lots to 98,830 contracts open as of May 19.

* Copper caught between two competing forces. Stagnating physical demand from China giving the market some pressure, while a weaker U.S. dollar and strength in other commodity markets mitigate a further correction - Optionsellers.com futures analyst Michael Gross.

* The dollar declined on Tuesday as talk of higher euro zone interest rates prompted investors to increase their exposure to the euro, though the losses were capped by inflation data that raised doubts about the U.S. interest rate outlook.

* U.S producer prices rose by a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in April, weaker than economist expectations for a 0.4 percent rise.

* Core producer prices, which strip out volatile energy and food costs, increased by 0.4 percent. That was twice the rate that had been forecast. Core producer prices over the last 12 months rose 3.0 percent, the largest gain since December 1991. [ID:nN20291072]