(Updates prices) By Julian Luk LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose on Tuesdayfor a fourth session, building on gains last week, buoyed byfirm consumption data in China and more Chinese monetary supportmeasures. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange(LME) was up 1% at $8,360 per metric ton at 1618 GMT.
"There is a short term uptick in the sentiment today," saidDan Smith, head of research for Amalgamated Metal Trading.
"The latest copper consumption data in China shows thatdemand has surprisingly held up. Investors who were downbeatbefore are now reassessing the scenario."
Chinese apparent demand of refined copper grew by around 9%in the first half of this year, even though the global marketmoved into surplus, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG)said on Monday.
Apparent demand is derived from indicators from major coppersectors like cable plants, power grid and constructionindustries.
Metals markets were also boosted by continuing supportmeasures by the Chinese authorities. On Monday, China's major state-owned banks were seenactively mopping up the offshore yuan and on Tuesday China's yuan found respite as efforts by authorities to slow its declinegained some traction. Measures aimed at resolving localgovernment debts are also in the pipeline.
Copper's correlation to the yuan has strengthened recentlydue to the focus of investors on China's sluggish economicrecovery. Among other metals, lead prices on the Shanghai FuturesExchange (SHFE) jumped to a more than 17-month high on Tuesday.
Thousands of tons of lead sold on the SHFE for futuredelivery are expected to trigger a price surge as the currentSHFE inventory is not enough to cover them and the physicalmarket is tight. Three-month LME lead retreated 0.5% to $2,154 a tonafter touching a two-month high.
LME aluminium gained 1.7% to $2,180 a ton, despiteinflows that sent LME stocks climbing to a one-month peak.
Zinc advanced 0.6% to $2,330.5, tin gained1.6% to $26,100 and nickel added 1.8% to $20,485. For top stories in metals and other news, click or ($1 = 7.2878 yuan) (Reporting by Julian LukAdditional reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; editing by DavidEvans)
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