METALS-Base metals largely rebound in thin China holiday trade

(Updates prices, adds quotes) By Mai Nguyen Oct 1 (Reuters) - Nonferrous metals ticked up on Tuesday, rebounding from losses in the previous session triggered by profit taking, as China stimulus provided a cushion. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 rose 0.6% to $9,884.50 per metric ton by 0759 GMT, aluminium CMAL3 increased 0.5% to $2,625.50, nickel CMNI3 advanced 0.8% to $17,660 and zinc CMZN3 added 1.2% to $3,127. LME lead CMPB3 climbed 1% to $2,116.50 a ton, while tin CMSN3 fell 0.3% to $33,365. LME copper, on Monday, hit $10,158 a ton, its highest in nearly four months, supported by a series of supportive measures from China, including liquidity injection, mortgage rate cuts and easing home purchase curbs. But prices retreated at close as investors and traders closed their positions ahead of China's Oct. 1-7 holiday and at the calendar end of the quarter. ANZ analysts said in a report that the China's stimulus and a recovery in factory activity, albeit still contracting, supported metals prices. But stronger dollar capped gains, they said. A firm dollar, supported by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments pushing back against bets of more supersized interest rate cuts, makes greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies. The discount of LME cash aluminium to the three-month contract tightened to $2.78 a ton on Monday, the smallest discount since April 23, indicating tighter supplies in the near-term. MAL0-3 LME aluminium inventories MALSTX-TOTAL fell to 792,950 tons on Friday, the lowest since May 8. In China, the social inventory of aluminium fell to 658,000 tons, the lowest since Feb. 18, data by Shanghai Metals Market showed. LME nickel hit of $17,650 a ton, its highest since June 17, earlier in the session. Top nickel producer China's Tsingshan cut ferronickel production in Indonesia due to persistent shortages of ore, sources told Reuters. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Louise Heavens) (([email protected]; Reuters Messaging: [email protected])) (( For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX ))