Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) –Copper gained for the first time in three days on optimism over the progress in Greece to secure international aid, bolstering equities and the demand outlook for metals.

Three-month delivery copper advanced as much as 0.5 percent to $8,523 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, before trading at $8,508 by 10:28 a.m. Shanghai time. April-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.6 percent to 60,360 yuan ($9,587) per ton.

"Thanks to the gains in equities and the euro following the Greece news overnight, copper now looks to be strong technically after closing above its 200-day moving average for two consecutive days,” said Xiao Jing, an analyst at Beijing Capital Futures Co.

Greece's government and international creditors are working on the final draft of an agreement on budget and structural measures needed for a second aid package as Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is set to negotiate with leaders of the political parties to seek consensus on the required measures. The euro rose the highest in eight weeks against the dollar yesterday while the Dollar Index fell to its lowest since December before trading little changed today.

March-delivery copper on the Comex in New York fell 0.2 percent to $3.868 a pound. Asian stocks rose for a third day with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gaining 0.6 percent.

On the LME, aluminum fell 0.3 percent to $2,248.50 a ton. Alcoa of Australia Ltd., jointly owned by Alcoa Inc. (AA) and Alumina Ltd., may cut production at its Point Henry aluminum smelter in the state of Victoria after a review to be completed by the end of June, the unit of the largest U.S. producer said today in a statement.

Zinc was little changed at $2,122 a ton, lead climbed 0.6 percent to $2,200 a ton, and nickel fell 0.6 percent to $21,670 a ton after climbing to the highest level since Sept. 16 yesterday. Tin hadn't been traded after rallying 4.1 percent yesterday to a six-month high of $25,500 per ton.