feb 16 reuters  london copper prices held steady on wednesday on signs of easing russiaukraine tensions offsetting pressure from expectations of an aggressive interest rate hike by the us central bank threemonth copper on the london metal exchange lme was little changed at 9971 a tonne as of 0325 gmt while the mosttraded march copper contract on the shanghai futures exchange rose 08 to 71460 yuan 1126987 a tonne on tuesday russia said it was returning some troops to base after exercises boosting sentiment in financial markets read more meanwhile data showed us producer prices increased by the most in eight months in january in another sign of high inflation financial markets have priced in a betterthaneven chance that the federal reserve will raise interest rates in march by half a percentage point read more  lme aluminium rose 01 to 3210 a tonne nickel gained 04 to 23390 lead eased 04 to 2300 and zinc was up 02 at 3588  shfe aluminium rose 01 to 22595 yuan a tonne nickel was up 09 at 173260 yuan zinc fell 04 to 25025 yuan lead eased 01 to 15320 yuan and tin gained 13 to 332610 yuan  copper inventories in lmeapproved warehouses have fallen to 70125 tonnes the lowest since november 2005  chinas january copper cathode output from major smelters fell 749 from the prior month due to maintenance and the holiday season statebacked research house antaike said on tuesday  mmg ltd 1208hk plans to ramp up production to normal levels at its las bambas copper mine in peru after a group of local communities agreed to a 45day truce with the government  chinas factorygate inflation cooled to its slowest pace in six months in january official data showed on wednesday as government measures to control surging raw material costs weighed on producer prices read more  for the top stories in metals and other news click or  the euro held on to overnight gains in early asian trade on wednesday having jumped on reports that some russian forces had moved away from the ukraine border though with tensions still elevated the common currency failed to make further progress release the minutes from its jan 2526 policy meeting reporting by eileen soreng in bengaluru editing by shailesh kuber