BEIJING, June 21 (Reuters) - London copper prices were flat
in early Asian trade on Friday, holding on to gains made after
the United States and top metals consumer China agreed to
restart trade talks and amid signs the Federal Reserve may
further cut interest rates this year.
    Copper was on course to gain 2.6% this week, which would
mark its best week since the week ended March 29. 
     
    FUNDAMENTALS
    * COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
 was flat at $5,975 tonne by 0109 GMT, after finishing up
0.9% in the previous session, during which it hit near one-month
high of $6,027. The most-traded August copper contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange was flat at 46,830 yuan 
($6,835.50) a tonne.
    * COPPER: Unions at Chile's Chuquicamata mine called on
members to reject a sweetened contract offer from Codelco, the
world's largest copper producer, amid a nearly week-long strike
that has halved output from the sprawling copper mine.

    * ZAMBIA: Vedanta Resources said it would take
urgent steps to protect its Zambian assets and pursue
international arbitration if necessary after a Lusaka court on
Thursday rejected its request to be included in liquidation
proceedings.
    * LYNAS: Australia's Lynas Corp on Friday said it
was stockpiling production of a major rare earth element as
prices have jumped in recent weeks on rising supply concerns
amid trade tensions between China and the United States.

    * MINERALS: U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau ordered officials on Thursday to develop
a plan for U.S.-Canada collaboration on "critical minerals," the
White House said in a statement after a meeting of the two
leaders.
    * ECUADOR: Ecuador's Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled
against a request to require community consultations for a
planned mining project, allowing Australia's SolGold to
move forward with developing its Cascabel copper, gold and
silver mine.
    * OTHER METALS: London aluminium and lead
advanced 0.2% in early trade. Nickel was the laggard,
falling 0.9%.
    * For the top stories in metals and other news, click       
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    MARKETS NEWS    
    * Asian stocks struggled to track Wall Street's exuberance
about a possible U.S. rate cut next month as anxiety over
Sino-U.S. trade negotiations clouded the investor mood in the
region.    
        
    DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0715    France        Markit Mfg, Serv, Comp  Flash PMI     June
0730    Germany       Markit Mfg, Serv, Comp  Flash PMI     June
0800    EU            Markit Mfg, Serv, Comp  Flash PMI     June
1345    US            Markit Mfg, Serv, Comp  Flash PMI     June
       
    
    PRICES        
 BASE METALS PRICES                        0109 GMT
 Three month LME copper                        5975
 Most active ShFE copper                      46830
 Three month LME aluminium                   1785.5
 Most active ShFE aluminium                   13845
 Three month LME zinc                          2469
 Most active ShFE zinc                        19710
 Three month LME lead                          1906
 Most active ShFE lead                        16055
 Three month LME nickel                       12195
 Most active ShFE nickel                      98860
 Three month LME tin                              0
 Most active ShFE tin                        144180
                                                   
 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE                             
 LME/SHFE COPPER               LMESHFCUc3    614.14
 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM            LMESHFALc3    -62.15
                                           
 LME/SHFE ZINC                 LMESHFZNc3    238.67
 LME/SHFE LEAD                 LMESHFPBc3    820.97
 LME/SHFE NICKEL               LMESHFNIc3   2043.08
                                           
    
($1 = 6.8510 Chinese yuan)

    
 (Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Uttaresh.V)