By Violet Li
SHANGHAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Most base metals declined on Wednesday, weighed down by a strong U.S. dollar, which led copper prices to pull back from their one-month high.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) slid 0.2% to $9,138.5 per metric ton by 0135 GMT.
The dollar slowed its rally on Wednesday, as traders turned cautious ahead of the highly anticipated U.S. consumer inflation report, set to be released later in the day, prompting hesitation in taking on new positions.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency versus six other units, stood at 109.24 - not far from the 26-month high of 110.17 touched on Monday.
A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The Producer Price Index in December saw a yearly rise of 3.3%, slightly under the 3.4% predicted by economists, and a monthly increase of 0.2%, according to data on Tuesday, signalling less inflation and potentially cautious Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.
The potential impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tariffs, combined with the Fed's cautious stance on rate cuts this year, drove up Treasury yields and strengthened the dollar.
"The U.S. dollar is pretty strong these days, exerting pressure on metals prices. Meanwhile, investors adopt a wait-and-watch attitude before Trump's inauguration," a trader said.
The most active copper contract on the SHFE was up 0.1% at 75,390 yuan ($10,283.31)a ton.
LME aluminium rose 0.3% to $2,568 a ton, tin fell at $29,650, nickel slipped 0.6% to $15,865, lead slid 0.5% to $1,955 and zinc lost 0.2% to $2,855.
SHFE aluminium slid 0.7% to 20,145 yuan a ton, nickel was down 0.2% to 127,600 yuan, zinc fell 0.7% to 24,010 yuan, lead gained 0.5% to 16,565 yuan and tin shed 0.7% to 246,770 yuan.
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($1 = 7.3313 yuan) (Reporting by Violet Li and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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