June 3 (Reuters) - London copper rose on Monday, as a private sector survey showed strong factory activity in top consumer China, and stabilising inflation in the United States suggested the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut plans later this year remained intact.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.1% to $10,152.50 per metric ton by 0232 GMT, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.2% to 82,100 yuan ($11,332.42) a ton.
China's manufacturing activity in May grew at the fastest pace in about two years with strong production and new orders across smaller, export-oriented firms, a private sector survey showed, contrasting a surprise fall in the broader official purchasing managers' index.
The manufacturing sector consumes a large amount of metals.
A softer dollar also made greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.
Data released last week showed that U.S inflation stabilised in April, keeping the door open for the Fed to cut rates later in the year.
The discount to import copper into China tightened to $10 a
ton on Friday, from $20 on May 22, indicating some improvement
in physical demand. However, overall consumption remained tepid
due to high and volatile prices.
LME aluminium rose 0.4% to $2,662 a ton, nickel climbed 1.1% to $19,920, zinc advanced 0.7% to $2,990, lead increased 0.6% to $2,286.50, while tin fell 0.2% to $32,975.
SHFE aluminium dropped 1% to 21,225 yuan a ton, nickel eased 0.6% to 149,560 yuan, zinc declined 1.4% to 24,430 yuan, tin decreased 0.9% to 271,330 yuan, while lead rose 0.6% to 18,870 yuan.
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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0750 France HCOB Manufacturing PMI
0755 Germany HCOB Manufacturing PMI
0800 EU HCOB Mfg Final PMI
0830 UK S&P Global Manufacturing PMI
1345 US S&P Global Mfg PMI Final
1400 US ISM Manufacturing PMI
($1 = 7.2447 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
