(Adds analyst comment, updates prices at 0700 GMT)

SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - Copper prices nudged up on

Tuesday, as dwindling London Metal Exchange inventories helped

it shrug off pressure from concerns about Middle East tensions,

inflation, and lower China imports.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal

Exchange was up 0.48% to $13,681.5 a metric ton by 0702 GMT.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures

Exchange edged up 0.56% to 104,650 yuan ($15,452.42) a

ton.

Traders have been shipping the red metal to the U.S. from

LME warehouses, with the Donald Trump administration expected to

decide on copper import tariffs at the end of June.

Elsewhere, data released on Tuesday from top consumer China

showed a marked decline in imports of unwrought copper this

year, which capped price gains.

For the first five months of 2026, China imported 2.01 million

tons of unwrought copper and copper products, down 7% from a

year earlier.

The Yangshan copper premium , which reflects

demand for imported copper, stood at $64 a ton on Monday, its

lowest since April 28.

The market will closely watch the release of U.S. CPI data

for May on Wednesday.

"If inflation comes in above expectations, the market will price

an increased likelihood of the Federal Reserve increasing

interest rates," Craig Lang, principal analyst at CRU, said.

"I would expect copper and other risk assets to react

negatively to that event," he said.

Oil dipped 1.16%, close to levels before an

exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel over the weekend saw

them surge. High energy costs dampen hopes for growth-dependent

industrial metals.

Among other LME metals, aluminium added 0.19%, zinc

gained 0.81%, lead increased 0.35%, nickel

rose 0.21% and tin gained 0.84%.

Elsewhere on SHFE, aluminium ticked 0.08% higher,

zinc added 0.26%, lead lost 1.25%, nickel

lost 1.14% and tin increased 0.74%.

($1 = 6.7724 Chinese yuan renminbi)