Copper prices climbed to two-week highs on Monday after the dollar fell on expectations of interest rate cuts in the United States, and as the market awaited the outcome of the U.S. Presidential election this week.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.6% at $9,626 a metric ton at 1136 GMT from an earlier session high of $9,723.50 a ton.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is forecast to cut rate rates by 25 basis points at its meeting on Nov. 6-7, according to analysts who expect further reductions over the coming months.

This is pressuring the U.S. currency. When it falls, it makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for holders of other currencies and supports demand. Traders said much of copper's rise on Monday was due to buying by funds that trade using buy and sell signals from numerical models.

Physical traders also said sentiment was positive and the focus was on the U.S. election.

Polls show Kamala Harris and Donald Trump running neck and neck nationally and in the battleground states expected to decide the winner of the U.S. election, although the closeness of the contest means it could take days for a winner to emerge.

Manufacturing activity in top consumer China swung back to growth in October as an expansion in new orders led to a pick-up in production growth, signalling an improvement in the sector.

Base metals markets are also hoping a meeting of China's top leaders Nov. 4-8 will decide on stimulus measures to spur growth.

Weighing on sentiment, however, the Yangshan premium , a closely watched indicator of China's appetite for importing copper, was down 30% at $48 a ton since climbing to near $70 in early October.

In other metals, aluminium was down 0.1% at $2,597 a ton, zinc fell 0.8% to $3,046, lead slipped 0.3% to $2,046.5, tin gained 1% to $32,030 and nickel was little changed at $15,940.

(Reporting by Pratima Desai; editing by Barbara Lewis)