Hopes for China demand revival boost base metal prices; copper rises 1%

Prices of industrial metals rose on Monday as top consumer China's plans to ease COVID restrictions raised expectations of a demand revival, but the damage to growth from the lockdowns limited gains.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1% at $9,254 a tonne at 1602 GMT, while aluminium was 1.4% higher at $2,828 a tonne after earlier touching a one-week high of $2,865 a tonne.

"China's zero-COVID lockdown policy, energy-driven inflation, rising real U.S. rates and a strengthening dollar are driving demand headwinds," said BNP Paribas analyst David Wilson.

Wilson expects "sustained ex-China market tightness, rising European smelter