Copper prices climbed on Tuesday as easing lockdown restrictions in China stoked hopes for improving demand.

Shanghai set out plans on Monday for ending the covid-19 lockdown that has lasted more than six weeks.

The commercial hub of 25 million on Tuesday achieved the long-awaited milestone of three consecutive days with no new covid cases outside quarantine zones.

“Shanghai is coming out of lockdown gradually and that is giving rise to demand hopes for cyclical commodities in particular,” said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann.

“From a technical point of view, most of these metals were oversold and sentiment was quite gloomy so it could only get better.”

Copper for delivery in July rose 2.1% from Monday’s settlement price, touching $4.28 per pound ($9,423 per tonne) midday Tuesday on the Comex market in New York.

Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices

The metal price fell to an eight-month low last week as aggressive US rate-hike bets and lockdowns in China led to slowdown concerns.

Recent price gains could also be chalked up to short-covering, said Alastair Munro at brokerage Marex, adding that a rally in prices would be limited in a “market whose brittle confidence has been shaken to the core”.

(With files from Reuters)