Copper slips as firm dollar outweighs thin inventories

BEIJING, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Copper prices slid on Wednesday, weighed down by a firm U.S. dollar and soft demand in top consumer China, while low inventories lent some support to the metal. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.2% at $8,526 per metric ton by 0410 GMT, while the most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) slid 0.3% to 68,600 yuan ($9,598.16) per ton. The dollar index on Tuesday recorded its biggest daily increase since October, supported by higher U.S. bond yields, while investors waited for U.S. jobs data and European inflation numbers for clues on central banks’ policies. Investors bet that the U.S. report will show a robust job market in…