SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--Base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose for a fourth consecutive session Friday, buoyed by hopes that Beijing could relax some of its monetary tightening measures in the second half of the year if domestic inflationary pressures ease. Benchmark SHFE September copper settled 0.6% higher at CNY69,780 a metric ton. Copper was initially helped by overnight gains on the London Metal Exchange that were driven by the euro's recovery against the dollar and improved risk sentiment after the Greek parliament approved legislation for the implementation of its five-year austerity plan. The red metal got a further boost in the afternoon session, after China's official manufacturing data indicated that Beijing's efforts to fight inflation may have started to take effect. "The PMI itself wasn't encouraging as it signaled a continuing slowdown in China, which will continue to hurt demand for metals, but on the other hand, it may indicate a possibility that Beijing might start relaxing a bit in the second half," Shanghai Cifco Futures analyst Wang Zhouyi said. China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index data showed the index falling to 50.9 in June from 52.0 in May, falling for a third consecutive month and indicating a slowdown in the manufacturing sector. The official data was consistent with the private HSBC PMI, which slipped to an 11-month low of 50.1 in June, from 51.6 in May. Technical buying also contributed to the gains, as copper breached the key level of CNY70,000/ton, traders said. "It closed shy of CNY70,000/ton today, but if it manages to close above that level for the next few sessions, copper may enter a new chart," said a Shanghai-based trader. However, supply-and-demand trends could cap copper's potential gains as spot copper has traded at a discount or close to par with the front-month SHFE contract this week, swinging from a premium of CNY200-CNY400/ton last week due to a sharp decline in buying interest. Copper traded at the Changjiang Nonferrous Metals Trading Market, a major spot metals market in Shanghai, was quoted at CNY69,800-CNY69,850/ton, up from CNY69,400-CNY69,550/ton Thursday. Three-month London Metal Exchange copper ended Thursday's afternoon kerb $109 higher at $9,429/ton. It was quoted 0.3% lower at $9,403/ton around 0700 GMT, when the SHFE closed. SHFE lead settled 0.3% higher, aluminum gained 0.8%, and zinc closed up 0.6%. Friday's settlement prices in yuan a ton and LME late kerb prices from Thursday in dollars a ton: SHFE LME Copper Sep 69,780 Up 400 3Mo 9,429 Up 109 Aluminum Sep 17,285 Up 145 3Mo 2,531 Dn 1 Zinc Sep 17,785 Up 105 3Mo 2,364 Up 48.5 Lead Sep 17,170 Up 45 3Mo 2,683 Up 49.5 -Yue Li contributed to this article; Dow Jones Newswires; (8621) 6120 1200; yue.li@dowjones.com

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