China Curbs pressing copper, but the Middle East raise the gold and silver

A fresh move by China to curb inflation undermined copper and oil prices on Friday while a battle over control of banks in Ivory Coast sent cocoa to a one-year peak and Mideast unrest boosted gold and silver.

The news that China's central bank raised lenders' required reserves by 50 basis points sent a chill through some markets as investors worried that more monetary tightening would cut demand in the world's biggest consumer of commodities.

Markets sought to balance Chinese moves to cool the economy -- including a rate hike earlier this month -- with strong underlying fundamentals in copper, including an expected shortage of metal to meet global demand this year.

"The Chinese move this morning to raise the reserve ratio is a continuation of policy tightening that we expect will persist for some time yet," said Nic Brown, analyst at Natixis in London.

"There is potential for base metal prices to correct lower soon. Tin, copper, nickel are more susceptible to this correction compared with other metals. We don't see a collapse but a correction... fundamentals are still positive."

In the wake of the news from China, benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped 0.5 percent to $9,763 a tonne by 1130 GMT. The metal used in power and construction hit a record peak of $10,190 earlier this week.

The Chinese move also dampened sentiment on oil markets, although continued tensions in the Middle East and North Africa were a counter-balance, having helped lift Brent crude above $100 a barrel about two weeks ago.

Brent crude futures were up 10 cents at $102.69 a barrel, down from earlier gains to $103.50 a barrel. The U.S. March light crude contract shed 28 cents to $86.08.

GOLD, SILVER STRONG

The persistent unrest in the Middle East boosted safe-haven gold to a five-week peak and sister metal silver skipped to the highest levels in 31 years.

"(There has been) a remarkable move in silver, which has helped gold back towards $1,400," said Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen.

"Middle East/North African unrest was undoubtedly the trigger, but it looks like investors have been waiting for the opportunity to buy at lower levels, and once that opportunity disappeared they returned for fear of missing the move."

Gold fell more than 6 percent in January, but many investors had been waiting for further losses to re-enter the market.

Spot gold gained to $1,385.70 against $1,383.30 late in New York on Wednesday, while silver climbed to $31.84 against $31.74, having hit a high of $31.95, a 31-year peak in earlier trade.

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