METALS-LME copper climbs on China growth affirmation

* Copper prices seen recovering above $8,500/t in 2H - BoAML

* China consumers resurface on cash buying, premiums firm

* Coming Up; Euro zone Markit Services PMI at 0858 GMT

(Adds comment, updates prices) SINGAPORE, March 5 (Reuters) - London copper climbed on Tuesday, pulling further away from three-month lows hit last week, as bargain hunters bought ahead of the seasonally stronger second quarter and after China confirmed its commitment to 7.5 percent growth. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had climbed 0.65 percent to $7,775 a tonne by 0312 GMT, adding to small gains in the previous session. Copper has rebounded 1.6 percent from Friday when it hit its lowest since Nov. 19 of $7,652 a tonne but prices are still down nearly 7 percent from the year's highs of early February. The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.64 percent to 56,780 yuan ($9,100) a tonne. With patchy growth in Europe and the United States, traders view even steady consumption by China, the world's top copper consumer, as a brighter sign of demand and this has helped to drive a disparity in metals price moves over the global day, said Singapore-based analyst Ivan Szpakowski of Credit Suisse. "Markets have performed better in the Asian timezone," he said. "You've not had the best headlines from Europe and the U.S. with the sequestration and the Italian elections," he said, adding seasonal pick up in consumption is starting to back Asia's price moves. Asian shares rebounded strongly on Tuesday after a sharp sell-off triggered by slumping Chinese stocks in the previous session, as a globally accommodative monetary stance helped revive risk appetite. China aims to grow its economy by 7.5 percent in 2013 and keep consumer inflation running around 3.5 percent for the year, outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday as the country began its annual parliament meetings. Worries about a real-estate bubble spurred some caution. Property-related shares fell by the most in nearly five years on Monday on plans to tighten curbs on the housing market.

Assurances over the U.S. central bank's aggressive monetary stimulus helped bolster sentiment after Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve's influential vice chair, said they were still warranted given how far the economy was operating below its full potential. Concern about U.S. growth slowing after the automatic "sequestration" spending cuts kicked in on March 1 could push copper prices lower in the coming weeks and subdue U.S. growth in the second quarter, BofA Merrill Lynch said in a client note. "Yet a gradual stabilisation and ultimately a rebound of global economic growth especially in the advanced nations later in 2013 should increasingly provide support to fundamentals," it said. "Given that copper prices often strengthen seasonally towards 2H13, we therefore see upside for copper prices, with quotations likely rising above $8,500/t ($3.86/lb) then." MARKETS NEWS Chinese consumers are filing back into the market since the Lunar new year and orders are expected to steadily improve in the coming weeks, traders said. "There was some Chinese pricing today on the official ring which saw the cash price rise sharply but the underlying sentiment remains soft," broker Triland said in a note. Stocks of refined copper in Shanghai bonded warehouses are down from record levels and will fall further in coming weeks, industry sources said. Premiums buyers pay to secure bonded stocks in Shanghai have risen to about $65-$85 a tonne over the cash LME prices this week from $30-$75 in the first week of February, traders said on Friday, signifying a pick up in physical buying of metal. PRICES Base metals prices at 0312 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 7775.00 50.00 +0.65 -1.94 SHFE CU FUT JUN3 56780 360 +0.64 -1.56 HG COPPER MAY3 352.70 2.55 +0.73 -3.44 LME Alum 1984.00 10.00 +0.51 -4.20 SHFE AL FUT JUN3 14710 50 +0.34 -4.14 LME Zinc 2025.50 23.50 +1.17 -1.84 SHFE ZN FUT JUN3 15460 -85 -0.55 -0.55 LME Nickel 16630.00 180.00 +1.09 -3.06 LME Lead 2238.50 22.50 +1.02 -4.34 SHFE PB FUT 14920.00 -15.00 -0.10 -2.16 LME Tin 23430.00 55.00 +0.24 0.13 LME/Shanghai arb^ -157

Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months

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($1 = 6.2251 Chinese yuan)

(Editing by Joseph Radford and Muralikumar Anantharaman)