(Adds analyst comment, updates prices, changes dateline)

By Eric Onstad

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Benchmark copper prices

touched the highest in nearly a month on Friday, propelled by

firmer demand in top metals consumer China, while U.S. prices

held their premium over London ahead of expected U.S. tariffs.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange

(LME) was up 0.5% at $9,121 per metric ton by 1100 GMT, after

touching $9,145, the highest since Dec. 12.

"The broader backdrop looks slightly bearish, but China

looks good actually in terms of demand for base metals at the

moment so that's probably helping to push prices up a bit," said

Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading.

The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai

Futures Exchange (SHFE) added 0.8% to 75,270 yuan

($10,264.73) a ton.

Firmer Chinese demand was highlighted by a spike in the

premium paid over SHFE prices to buy copper in the spot market

to 145 yuan, the highest since September and

compared to a discount of 40 yuan on Dec. 30.

"The other thing is the fear about inflation is building, so

that's going to be good for metals generally," Smith added.

Investors often turn to commodities as a hedge against

rising prices.

U.S. Comex copper futures gained 0.5% to $4.33 a lb,

or $9,546 per ton, a premium of $425 a ton over the LME.

Comex prices reflected investors attempting to price in the

impact of hefty tariffs that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump

has vowed to impose on China and other countries.

Also helping to support base metals was a slightly weaker

dollar index, taking a breather from recent strength

underpinned by elevated bond yields and expectations of another

strong set of U.S. job numbers later on Friday.

A weaker dollar makes it less expensive for holders of other

currencies to buy greenback-priced commodities.

Among other metals, LME aluminium rose 1.6% to

$2,579 a ton, nickel added 0.1% to $15,490, zinc

climbed 1.6% to $2,894, lead gained 2.2% to $1,969 and

tin advanced 0.8% to $30,100.

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($1 = 7.3319 Chinese yuan)