(Adds analyst comment, updates prices, changes dateline)

By Polina Devitt

LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose on

Tuesday as a result of high demand from top consumer China ahead

of its May holiday, concerns about tight nearby regional supply,

and a stronger yuan currency.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal

Exchange (LME) was up 0.9% to $9,458.50 per metric ton at 1019

GMT, but failed to break through the resistance coming from its

50-day moving average of $9,489.

"We are seeing a trend of restocking in China in advance of

the May Day holiday," said Arthur Parish, an analyst at SP

Angel. The mainland China market is due to close from May 1 for

a five-day Labour Day holiday.

The Yangshan copper premium , which reflects

demand for copper imported into China, was last at $93 per ton,

its highest price since December 2023.

This premium is up 6% since Friday, when official data

showed a 32% weekly drop in copper inventories in warehouses

monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

These inventories are expected to show further decline in

the next SHFE data due on Wednesday, said Alastair Munro, senior

base metals strategist at broker Marex, who added that this

topic would remain crucial in May.

"The restocking requirement was exacerbated after

inventories were redirected from Asia into the U.S. amid the

tariff-fuelled jump in COMEX premiums," Parish said.

Copper inventories in COMEX-owned warehouses are up 40% so far this month as Washington continues its

investigation on possible new U.S. copper import tariffs,

keeping the Comex premium over the LME benchmark at unusually

high $1,443 per ton.

The spread between the LME cash copper and the three-month

contract widened the premium to $30 a ton compared to

a discount of $16.5 a week ago, indicating tighter nearby supply

in the LME system as well.

Meanwhile, the surplus in the global copper market is expected

to widen this year to 289,000 tons from last year's 138,000 tons

and to persist next year, according to the International Copper

Study Group.

China's yuan strengthened to a one-month high against the dollar

on Tuesday, providing further support to the Chinese buying

activity.

In other London metals, aluminium rose 1.3% to

$2,465 a ton, zinc added 1.2% to $2,663, lead

gained 0.2% to $1,970, tin climbed 0.5% to $32,155 and

nickel fell 0.1% to $15,595.