LONDON, Copper prices climbed on Tuesday for a fourth straight session, moving further from 5-1/2-year lows plumbed last week as oil rebounded and on market views that bad news had been priced in for now.
Oil added to the prior two sessions' gains of more than 11 percent, leading some investors to buy into commodity funds that include copper.
Also helping the metal, European stocks rose on hopes of an agreement on the Greek debt standoff after the country's new government dropped calls for a write-off of its foreign borrowing.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had climbed 2.99 percent by 0942 GMT to $5,664 a tonne - its highest in more than a week. Prices shed almost 13 percent in January and touched a 5-1/2-year low of $5,339.50 last week.
"If we haven't already seen the lows for this year then we are very close to them," said Guy Wolf, strategist at MarexSpectron.
"Everyone knows the problems with the world but there's a growth boost to come from low oil prices and China is not collapsing. Add these factors together with a record-low short position on the LME and the market looks oversold."
Activity in China's factory sector shrank for the first time in more than two years last month, a private business survey showed, but the news raised hopes for more policy stimulus.
Still, copper prices remain vulnerable to signs of rising supplies. Daily LME data showed copper stocks rose 225 tonnes to 250,250 tonnes - their highest point since April last year. Stocks are up more than a third this year.
"We believe copper and base metals prices in general will remain under pressure through the Chinese New Year in February until there is greater clarity on the Chinese economic growth target for this year after the meeting of the National People's Congress in March," JP Morgan said in a research note.
China consumes some 45 percent of the world's copper.
Aluminium rose 0.31 percent to $1,878 a tonne, having hit its highest since Dec. 22. Shanghai Futures Exchange aluminium jumped earlier to its highest in more than a month.
"We believe aluminium has the best growth potential of any of the major base metals, owing to strengthening secular demand trends in automotive and aerospace coupled with consumer leverage in emerging markets," Nomura said in a note.
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