HANOI, June 16 (Reuters) - London copper inched higher on Wednesday after tumbling to a seven-week low in the previous session, although prices were pressured by fears of U.S. policy tightening amid rising inflation. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2% to $9,592 a tonne by 0317 GMT, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.6% to 69,170 yuan ($10,801.57) a tonne, tracking an overnight drop in London. Data released this week showed stronger U.S. inflation and weaker retail sales in May, and investors are now awaiting the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting due later in the day. FUNDAMENTALS * LME nickel fell 1.1% to $17,540 a tonne, tin shed 1.1% to $31,125 a tonne, ShFE nickel dropped to a near three-week low of 128,510 yuan a tonne and ShFE aluminium declined 0.9% to 18,770 yuan a tonne. * LME copper inventories MCUSTX-TOTAL rose to their highest since April 29 at 140,625 tonnes, while ShFE copper stocks CU-STX-SGH were last at 180,967 tonnes, their lowest since March 12. * Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN fell to $21 a tonne, its lowest since February 2016 and 81% lower than May 2020, indicating weak demand for imported metal into top consumer China. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or MARKETS NEWS * Asian shares were subdued with investors wary of any hint of hawkishness from the U.S. Federal Reserve given lofty asset valuations rely so heavily on an endless supply of super-cheap money. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0600 UK CPI YY May 0700 China Urban Investment (YTD) YY May 0700 China Industrial Output YY May 0700 China Retail Sales YY May 1230 US Housing Starts Number May 1800 US Federal Open Market Committee announces its decision on interest rates $1 = 6.4037 yuan Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.