Reuters reported that London copper was steady buoyed by a rosier than expected official estimate for Chinese factory growth but gains were capped by a stronger dollar and ahead of slew of manufacturing data later in the session.

Fundamentals
1. Three month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at USD 8,332 at 0140 GMT up by 0.1% from Tuesday's close. Copper posted gains of 9.7 percent in January.

2. The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down by 0.9% to CNY 59,920 per tonne.

3. China banned a giant new class of ship from its ports on Tuesday, a move that checks efforts by mining giant Vale SA to cut the cost of shipping iron ore to its largest market and risks straining trade relations with Brazil.

4. Finland's Outokumpu Oyj plans to buy ThyssenKrupp AG's stainless steel business in a deal worth EUR 2.7 billion designed to fend off cut-price Asian competition.

5. A cold snap in Europe has come too late to kick start demand for battery material lead after a milder than usual start to winter in the Northern hemisphere dampened demand in the Q1.

(Sourced from Reuters)