May 7 (Reuters) - Copper prices in London rose above a key resistance level of $10,000 a metric ton on Tuesday, buoyed by renewed hopes for U.S. interest rate cuts this year.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 1.5% to $10,061.50 a ton by 0415 GMT, while the most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) was nearly flat at 80,920 yuan ($11,213.35) a ton, hovering near the record high of 82,460 yuan.
LME aluminium rose 1.2% to $2,581 a ton, nickel increased 0.8% to $19,385, zinc advanced 1.3% to $2,941, lead climbed 1.2% to $2,242 and tin jumped 2% to $32,635.
SHFE nickel edged up 0.2% to 144,500 yuan a ton, zinc rose 0.3% to 23,320 yuan, lead climbed 1.1% to 17,715 yuan, and tin jumped 1.2% to 262,790 yuan, while aluminium eased 0.1% to 20,660 yuan.
A softer-than-expected U.S. labor market report on Friday led traders to revive bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve would ease monetary policy as early as September.
Lower interest rates could lift metals demand by boosting economic growth. They could also lead to a softer dollar, making greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.
Despite rising nickel inventories in both LME and SHFE warehouses, prices of the metal on both bourses hit their highest in two weeks.
Last month, top consumer China announced subsidies for scrapping old cars in exchange for new ones to boost car sales, especially for electric vehicles, which consume nickel in their batteries.
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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 Germany Industrial Orders MM March
0600 Germany Manufacturing O/P Current Price SA March
0600 Germany Consumer Goods SA March
0600 UK Halifax House Prices MM, YY April
0645 France Reserve Assets Total April
0830 UK S&P Global PMI: MSC Composite Output April
($1 = 7.2164 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
