METALS-Copper bounces from key technical level on China hopes

(Updates prices at 1615 GMT) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Copper prices rebounded on Wednesday after the market stabilised at a key support level amid hopes that China will reveal more support for its ailing property sector. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 was up 0.4% at $9,566.50 per metric ton by 1615 GMT after touching a three-week low in the previous session. U.S. Comex copper futures HGc2 rose 0.4% to $4.32 a lb. "The market is trying to establish some support in this area around $9,500, which is both technical and psychological support," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen. Buying from industrial consumers and arbitrage traders helped support prices, broker Marex said in a note. "The market is trying to work out what kind of impact the initiatives from China will actually have on the market. The trajectory of rates coming down and a small bazooka in China should be enough to stabilise prices," Hansen added. A trader in Asia said there was some short-covering ahead of a press conference on China's property sector scheduled for Thursday. In late September, metal prices surged after China pledged strong stimulus measures to boost the economy, but they have since retreated as follow-up announcements lacked details and disappointed investors. More details on China's stimulus measures may be revealed at the country's National People's Congress later in October. The most-traded November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 closed down 0.2% at 76,720 yuan ($10,778.01) a ton, tracking overnight losses in London. Nickel CMNI3 slipped 0.7% to $17,305 a ton after hitting its lowest in more than two weeks at $17,250. LME stocks have continued to pile up, highlighting a surplus in the market, having surged by 40% since the start of July to the highest since November 2021. MNISTX-TOTAL Among other metals, LME aluminium CMAL3 gained 0.7% to $2,588 a ton, zinc CMZN3 was unchanged at $3,053.50, lead CMPB3 added 0.3% to $2,084.50, and tin CMSN3 fell 0.9% to $32,095. For the top stories in metals, click TOP/MTL ($1 = 7.1182 yuan) (Reporting by Eric Onstad; Additionial reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Elaine Hardcastle and Jan Harvey) (([email protected]; +44 20 7542 7093; Twitter https://twitter.com/reutersEricO; 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 ))