LONDON - Copper prices dipped on Tuesday after signals from a top Chinese official about more economic stimulus were offset by concern over slower growth and rising interest rates in the West.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.4% to $8,358 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading.

LME copper has rebounded by about 7% since hitting its lowest in nearly six months about a month ago.

Base metals and wider financial markets were lifted by comments from Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who said that China will take steps to boost demand and invigorate markets.

"My sense is that all those policy measures in China will still be fairly targeted and moderate," said Amelia Xiao Fu, head of commodity market strategy at Bank of China International.

"Even if you get some measures from China, I don't think it's going to encourage a sustained rally. I think the market is likely to be fairly range-bound."

She added that U.S. interest rates could rise again in July and the dollar is likely to remain strong, making for "sustained macro pressure across commodities".

Citi analysts said in a note on Tuesday they cut their 2023 annual GDP forecast for China to 5.5% from 6.1% due to "weak confidence prevalent across households, corporates and investors in China".

The premium of LME cash copper over the three-month contract retreated to $17 a metric ton after on Monday touching $31, the highest since last November, which had indicated tightening near-term supplies.

On-warrant copper inventories fell to 25,725 metric tons, the lowest since October 2021, LME data showed on Monday, though they rebounded slightly in Tuesday's data.

Inventories of the metal in SHFE and Chinese bonded warehouses have also been declining.

LME aluminium climbed 2% to $2,191 per metric ton in official activity, nickel rose 1% to $20,500, zinc advanced 2% to $2,375, lead gained 1.2% to $2,094.50 and tin rose 1.4% to $26,000.

($1 = 7.2141 yuan)

(Reporting by Eric Onstad; Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi Editing by David Goodman and Louise Heavens)