SINGAPORE, July 27 (Reuters) - Copper prices firmed up on

Monday, buoyed by a nascent halt in fighting between the U.S.

and Iran and oil market relief.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal

Exchange gained 0.26% at $13,681 a metric ton by 0300 GMT. The

most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange

was up 0.27% at 105,010 yuan ($15,515.43) a ton.

The U.S. said it was pausing its airstrikes on Iran after 13

consecutive nights of attacks and Tehran said it would halt its

retaliatory attacks.

The tentative truce gave some relief to oil prices. Brent

crude fell more than 4% on Monday. It had topped $100 a

barrel for the first time since May last week.

Expensive energy raises fears of inflation and tends

togenerate bets on higher interest rates, which could weigh on

growth-dependent commodities like copper by dampening economic

activity.

The market will be closely watching Wednesday's U.S. Federal

Reserve meeting for its interest rate decision. Rates are

expected to remain flat, with interest-rate traders pricing in a

63.7% chance there will be no rate change at this meeting,

according to the CME's FedWatch tool.

Non-yielding gold gained, and the dollar index

edged lower. A cheaper dollar makes commodities like copper,

traded in the greenback, more affordable for buyers using other

currencies.

Copper has been supported by waning stocks outside the U.S.

The metal has been shipped into the countryat scale ahead of

potential tariffs on refined copper.

In top consumer China, copper in SHFE-monitored warehouses

fell 12.9% last week, to their lowest level since

February 2024, at 69,610 tons. Overall LME copper stocks

are at their lowest since March.

Among other LME metals, aluminium dipped 0.11%, zinc

added 0.31%, lead dipped 0.16%, nickel

lost 0.63% and tin gained 0.78%.

Elsewhere on SHFE, aluminium dipped 0.15%, zinc

added 0.32%, lead lost 1.17%, nickel

lost 0.39% and tin rose 1.76%.

($1 = 6.7681 Chinese yuan renminbi)