By Nick Trevethan SINGAPORE, Jan 24 (Reuters) - London copper prices rose half a percent on Monday, extending a near one-percent gain in the previous session, underpinned by fading fears of China tightening monetary policy. FUNDAMENTALS * Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose $44.25 to $9,485.25 a tonne by 0108 GMT. The metal hit a record high of $9,781 last week. Shanghai's benchmark third-month copper futures contract rose almost 1 percent to 71,580 yuan a tonne. * Shanghai copper traded around 1,500 yuan below LME, having narrowed from 3,000 yuan or more over about a week. * South Korea has bought 1,000 tonnes of copper cathode for Feb. 28, arrival at a premium of $95 per tonne over the London Metal Exchange price on a cost, insurance and freight (CIF) basis, the agency said on its website (www.g2b.go.kr). * European sentiment indicators, the first reading of U.S. fourth-quarter GDP, a Federal Reserve meeting and another wave of major earnings -- including some U.S. energy companies -- will set the agenda for commodity markets next week. MARKETS NEWS * The euro backed away from a nine-week high early in Asia on Monday in the face of heightened political uncertainty in Ireland, but euro bears were wary of becoming too negative having been badly burnt in the last couple of weeks. * President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday is likely to ignite a clash with Republicans over the federal deficit and the pace of budget cuts, an issue that may dominate the U.S. political debate this year. * The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday as General Electric Co's earnings put a positive tone on the economic recovery, snapping a two-day losing skid for the benchmark index. DATA/EVENTS * The following data is expected on Monday: 0758 GMT France Markit/CDAF Mfg FlashPMI Jan 0828 GMT Germany Markit/BME MFG Flash PMI Jan 0858 GMT EZ Markit Mfg flash PMI Jan Base metals prices at 0108 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2010 YTD pct chg LME Cu 9485.25 44.25 +0.47 9600.00 -1.20 SHFE Cu* 71580.00 610.00 +0.86 71850.00 -0.38 LME Alum 2417.00 -3.00 -0.12 2470.00 -2.15 SHFE Alum* 16865.00 20.00 +0.12 16840.00 0.15 COMEX Cu** 430.00 3.75 +0.88 443.95 -3.14 LME Zinc 2347.00 29.00 +1.25 2454.00 -4.36 SHFE Zinc 18915.00 105.00 +0.56 19475.00 -2.88 LME Nickel 26175.00 0.00 +0.00 24750.00 5.76 LME Lead 2443.00 18.00 +0.74 2550.00 -4.20 LME Tin 27745.00 0.00 +0.00 26900.00 3.14 LME/Shanghai arb^ 1476 Dollar/yuan 6.5830 \ 6.5841 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contact month for SHFE aluminium, copper and zinc ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month (Reporting by Nick Trevethan; Editing by Ed Lane)

Source