(Adds analyst comment, changes dateline, updates prices)

By Polina Devitt

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose on Friday,

supported by new measures to boost liquidity in the Chinese

stock market and expectations that more stimulus tools were

coming from the top metals consumer after it released mixed

economic data.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose

0.7% to $9,583 per metric ton by 1020 GMT. The contract touched

the lowest since Sept. 23 on Thursday and is heading for the

third consecutive week of decline.

China's economy grew at the slowest pace since early 2023 in

the third quarter and its property sector continued to show

sharp weakness, even though consumption and industrial output

figures for September beat forecasts.

At the same time, China's central bank kicked off two

funding schemes on Friday that will initially pump as much as

800 billion yuan ($112 billion) into the stock market and urged

swift adoption of financial policies to support capital markets,

boosting investor sentiment.

"People are a bit puzzled with what is going with China's

economy because there are certain parts of it which are doing

well such as the electronic sector and other parts which are

doing badly," said Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated

Metal Trading.

The property and the construction markets are still weak,

adding pressure on copper, used in power and construction, he

said.

"So, China is basically releasing mini bazookas to stop

things from getting worse, and it is quite difficult to trade

this," Smith said.

Industrial metals will struggle to see a long-term move

higher until the market sees signs of a sustainable recovery and

economic growth in China, said Ewa Manthey, a commodities

analyst at ING.

LME aluminium rose 0.8% to $2,572.50 a ton, tin

climbed 1.0% to $31,490, zinc edged up 0.4% to

$3,064, lead increased 0.2% to $2,072.50, while nickel

fell 0.4% to $16,925.