BEIJING, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose 2% on Friday with sentiment lifted by hopes of easing COVID restrictions in top metals consumer China, with supply jitters from lasting thin inventories and fresh production disruptions in Peru — the world's second-largest copper producer.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange advanced 2.3% to $7,737.50 a tonne, as of 0850 GMT, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added 1.3% to 64,250 yuan ($8,846.21) tonne.

Renewed hopes that China will relax its strict COVID measures spurred a rally in Asian equities on Friday.

"Participants in Asia have proven to be extremely sensitive and effective in sniffing out any potential re-open story, with the constant buying throughout the week rewarding them as LME copper trades back above $7,700," said Marex Metals desk in a note.

Still, some caution persisted among investors due to worries about metals' demand amid recession threats.

The U.S. payrolls report, due at 1230 GMT, is also on investors' radar. Any upside surprise will likely reinforce the Fed's hawkish outlook.

Economists polled by Reuters expect nonfarm payrolls to have increased by 200,000 jobs in October.

Supply side, the huge Las Bambas copper mine in Peru, owned by Chinese miner MMG Ltd, has begun to reduce operations due to recent blockades, the mine said in a statement on Thursday.

Las Bambas, whose operations have often been disrupted by protests from neighbouring indigenous communities, accounts for 2% of global copper supply.

"The news in Peru certainly added some concerns over copper supply, especially in today's tight-supplied market," a China-based copper producer said.

Copper stocks in LME warehouse dropped 5,375 tonnes on Friday to 88,600 tonnes, the lowest since April.

Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by SHFE fell 6.9% on-week to 59,064 tonnes on Friday.

Among other metals, SHFE aluminium gained 2% to 18,385 yuan a tonne, zinc was up 2.4% at 23,370 yuan a tonne, and nickel edged 0.2% down at 192,310 yuan a tonne.

LME aluminium added 1.2% to $2,292 a tonne, tin increased 0.2% to $17,800 a tonne, and zinc rose 2.1% to $2,778 a tonne.

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($1 = 7.2630 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Uttaresh.V, and Janane Venkatraman)