SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--Base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed Wednesday, with copper settling lower after narrowing early losses as Chinese equity markets rose. Benchmark November copper settled 0.6% lower at CNY62,490 a metric ton. After an initial drop, copper fared well during the session as metal investors took cues from the stock market and took advantage of the low prices. China's shares ended higher Wednesday due to bargain hunting in banks and increased demand from fund managers. The metals have been trading in tandem with equities as the macroeconomic climate takes precedence over fundamentals, and analysts expect the trend to continue in the near term, while investors await the results of a Federal Open Market Committee meeting due later in the day. Investors will be focused on whether the Federal Reserve will take easing steps, in addition to "Operation Twist," which involves selling short-term Treasury bonds and buying long-term ones. "I think it still depends on external market conditions, despite the fact that copper already has positive fundamentals," Everbright Securities Futures analyst Xu Yongqi said. A glimmer of hope came from Chinese refined copper imports in August that rose for a third consecutive month, supported by expectations of improving demand and arrivals of shipments booked during an arbitrage window between Shanghai and London. Even a mild recovery in imports by the world's largest copper consumer will likely provide a strong foundation to global prices, which have been pressured in recent weeks due to the U.S. credit downgrade and deepening European debt crisis. China's refined copper imports in August rose 21% from a month earlier to 235,509 metric tons, though this is 12% less than August last year, the General Administration of Customs said Wednesday. China accounts for 40% of global copper demand. Imports in the January to August period fell 26% from a year earlier to 1.51 million tons. Copper traded at the Changjiang Nonferrous Metals Trading Market, a major spot metals market in Shanghai, was quoted at CNY62,750-CNY62,850/ton, down from CNY63,200-CNY63,300/ton Tuesday. Three-month London Metal Exchange copper ended Tuesday's afternoon kerb $64 lower at $8,300/ton. It was quoted 0.7% higher at $8,360/ton around 0700 GMT, when the SHFE closed. SHFE aluminum settled 0.4% higher, zinc settled 0.1% lower and lead ended 0.2% higher. Wednesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric ton and LME late kerb prices from Tuesday in dollars a ton: Metal SHFE LME Copper Dec 62,490 Dn 360 3Mo 8,300 Dn 64.0 Aluminum Dec 17,100 Dn 60 3Mo 2,325 Dn 15.0 Zinc Dec 16,320 Dn 15 3Mo 2,082 Dn 17.5 Lead Nov 15,880 Dn 25 3Mo 2,319 Up 18.0 -Yue Li contributed to this article; Dow Jones Newswires; (8621) 6120 1200; yue.li@dowjones.com

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