(Adds quotes, updates prices, changes dateline from MELBOURNE)...

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    (Adds quotes, updates prices, changes dateline from MELBOURNE)

    Copper and other base metals drifted lower on Thursday as speculators took profits ahead of fresh economic data from the United States and top metals consumer China.

    "I think it's a bit of drift going on and some speculative money coming out of the market," said Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics.

    Investors were waiting for U.S. GDP data due to be released on Thursday while Chinese manufacturing and PMI data is due on Friday and Saturday.

    Prices were also slipping due to continued worries about the prospects for metals-friendly U.S. economic policies following the collapse of U.S. healthcare reform last week, Bain added.

    • LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper CMCU3 had slipped 0.6 percent to $5,873 a tonne by 1140 GMT, erasing a 0.6 percent gain from the previous session, when prices hit their highest since March 20 at $5,927.50.
    • ESCONDIDA: Chile's Escondida named a new president to run the BHP Billiton-operated mine on Thursday, days after the company failed to clinch a wage deal with workers after an historically long strike.
    • ALUMINIUM: Bucks weaker trend, with three-month price CMAL3 up 0.2 percent to $1,964.50, the highest since May 2015. The gains were due to buying from a mix of CTAs (commodity trading advisors), discretionary funds and the trade, according to Alastair Munro at Marex Spectron. LME on-warrant stocks fall to the lowest levels since mid-2008.
    • ZINC FEES: Korea Zinc Inc <010130.KS>, the world's third-largest zinc smelter, has agreed to take a 15 percent drop in annual processing fees for 2017 as smelters grapple with a dearth of mine supply, Metal Bulletin reported.
    • NICKEL - LME price CMNI3 down 0.6 percent at $9,985, with lower prices sparking some consumer buying, Munro at Marex Spectron says.
    • WIDER MARKETS: The euro dipped and bond yields hit multi-week lows on Thursday as easing inflation in Spain and Germany led investors to row back further on expectations of when the European Central Bank might tighten monetary policy. [MKTS/GLOB]
    • COMING UP: 1230 U.S. GDP Final Q4 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE yuan/T at 1036 GMT LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 155.11 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1955.35 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 -193.48 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1921.44 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 1271
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    Top base and precious metals analysis - GFMS	 http://tmsnrt.rs/2lvmIzW 
    
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