LONDON - Copper prices were little changed in London on Monday after top consumer China promised to step up its policy support for the economy amid a tortuous post-COVID recovery.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.1% to $8,463 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading. Copper, used in power and construction, declined 2.6% last week — its biggest weekly fall since mid-May — on China's modest stimulus measures.

"Global growth concerns, and in particular slowing demand in China as its economic recovery lost momentum in the second quarter, are weighing on industrial metals prices," said ING analyst Ewa Manthey.

China will optimise property policies at an appropriate time, expand domestic demand, speed up local special bond issuance as well as boost demand for autos and electronics, the Politburo, top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party, was quoted as saying by the state news agency.

The copper premium in Yangshan dropped to a two-month low of $46 a metric ton on Friday, indicating weaker import appetite.

On the technical front, copper is squeezed between the 200-day and 50-day moving averages, with the 21-day moving average coming in between those levels at $8,405.

The U.S. currency index rose slightly, making dollar-priced commodities more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

Metals markets are focused on a rate decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve due later this week that might offer more clues on the tightening path ahead.

LME aluminium declined 0.6% to $2,191 a metric ton in official activity, while lead was flat at $2,140, tin lost 1.1% to $28,175, while nickel rose 0.3% to $20,830.

Zinc was up 0.6% $2,386 after LME daily data showed inventory cancellations <0#MZNSTX-LOC-GRD> of 21,425 metric tons in exchange-registered warehouses, slashing on-warrant stocks by 27% to 59,950 metric tons.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Additional reporting by Siyi Liu; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and David Holmes)