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By Pratima Desai
LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Base metals prices paused on Friday as the market took stock after the recent rally, but analysts said copper prices were likely to forge higher on stronger Chinese demand.
However, traders said a Lunar New Year holiday in China next week and the Presidents' Day holiday in the United States on Monday could curb activity and hamper any gains for a few days.
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Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange was quoted at $5,810/5,820 a tonne in official rings, from $5,840 on Thursday, when it hit a five-week high of $5,935.
At the beginning of February copper fell to a 10-month low of $5,250, a loss of about 40 percent since the record high of $8,800 a tonne in May 2006 on worries about rising stocks, economic slodown and falling demand.
Underpinning copper prices are expectations that Chinese demand after the holiday next week was likely to pick up as the country's State Reserves Bureau replenished its depleted stocks.
Support is also expected from the U.S. housing market, one of the triggers behind the copper price rout last year, which many economists think has bottomed. Continued...
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