Copper advanced for a second day in Asia after manufacturing data in China and the U.S., the world's two largest consumers of the metal used in construction and automobiles, added to signs demand may revive.

The Institute for Supply Management's factory index in the U.S. shrank in June at the slowest pace in 10 months, a sign the recession may be easing, a private report showed yesterday. China's Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to a seasonally adjusted 53.2 in June from 53.1 in May, the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said yesterday. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion.

"Base metals prices were higher, with markets taking heart from the Chinese PMI data and U.S. ISM data," David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in an e-mail today.

Three-month delivery copper on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 1.1 percent to $5,144 a metric ton, before trading little changed at $5,095 at 3:12 p.m. Singapore time, as a rebound in the dollar capped gains. Copper for September delivery in New York fell 0.5 percent to $2.3185 a pound.

October-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended the day down 0.5 percent at 40,150 yuan ($5,877) a ton, after climbing as much as 1.7 percent to 41,040 yuan earlier.

The dollar climbed from a three-week low against the euro after a Chinese official said he hoped the greenback would remain stable and was "not aware" of a plan to discuss a new reserve currency at next week's Group of Eight meeting. Metals, denominated in dollars, tend to move inversely to the currency.

Among other LME-traded metals, zinc fell 0.6 percent to $1,585 a ton and nickel lost 1 percent to $16,325 a ton. Aluminum was little changed at $1,662 a ton, lead was up 0.2 percent at $1,743 a ton, and tin gained 0.7 percent to $14,600 a ton as of 3:15 p.m. in Singapore.