SINGAPORE: Copper gained on optimism demand will grow even as China moves to curb record lending that helped prices to more than double last year. Aluminum also advanced.

The metal for immediate delivery in Changjiang, Shanghai's biggest cash market, traded at more than 60,000 yuan a ton last week, levels not seen since September 2008.

"Demand is quite robust at the moment as it usually tends to be before the Lunar New Year," said Shenzhen Rongtuo Trading Co analyst Cheng Xiongfei. The vacation, which starts on Feb 14 and lasts a week, precedes the peak-demand season.