(Updates prices for late Asia session hours)

Feb 19 (Reuters) - LME copper ticked down on Thursday,

having gained more than 2% in the last session, as the U.S.

dollar hit a more than one-week ​high and rising inventories with

muted China demand ‌weighed on prices of the red metal.

Benchmark copper on the LME edged 0.4% down to

$12,861.50 ⁠a metric ton as of 0604 GMT after rising 2.3% ⁠on

Wednesday.

Trading is thin with the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed

for ‌the Lunar New ‌Year holidays till February 23.

"With China and Hong Kong closed, it's not surprising that

(copper's) ​basically not doing anything and waiting ‌for

liquidity to come back," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro

at Tastylive, adding that a firm dollar was ​also pressuring

prices slightly.

The dollar held ​on to ‌gains after minutes from the Federal

Reserve showed policymakers did not seem to be in a rush to cut

interest rates and that ⁠several were open to hikes if inflation

proved sticky.

A stronger U.S. ⁠dollar makes greenback-priced metals more

expensive for holders of other currencies.

Copper stocks in LME-approved warehouses increased by 3,025

tons to 224,650 tons on Tuesday , the highest

since March 2025.

The Democratic Republic of Congo struck a deal ⁠to ‌tender

copper from a major Glencore ( GLCNF ) operation in the ‌country,

Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

DRC's state miner Gecamines has secured rights to ⁠market

about half of Kamoto Copper Company's output - controlled by a

Glencore ( GLCNF ) subsidiary - for at least the next two years, and 30%

of production after that, the report said, citing people

familiar with the matter.

In other metals, zinc prices ticked down 0.1% to $3,350

. The metal touched a two-week low on Tuesday.

Aluminium lost 0.5% ​to $3,072.50, after breaking a

four-session losing streak on Wednesday when it climbed 1.8%.

Lead gained 0.2% to $1,969.0, and nickel was up

1.1% at $17,470 a ton.

Tin ​was up 0.4% at $45,855.