Copper drifts lower, China holidays weigh

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Copper edged down in early European trade on Thursday as interest subsided due to high prices, and in the lead up to holidays in top consumer China, but a softer dollar limited further falls.
"The metals are stuck in the middle of the range we have seen across the last few weeks," said an LME trader. "Currencies and the stockmarket are playing a little part to support them.

"The funds have got [prices] to a level where it looks quite sexy across the board but whether they have got the muscles to keep them here, I'm not sure - especially with volumes low and with China holidays coming up," he added.

Volumes of copper on the LME were very low with less than 2,000 lots having changed hands on LME select, indicating little interest at present.

Chinese markets are shut on Sept. 22-24 for the Mid-Autumn Festival and on Oct. 1-7 for the National Day holiday.

PRICES

* Copper for three months delivery on the London Metal Exchange was at $7,615 a tonne by 0747 GMT, versus a last quote of $7,620 a tonne on Wednesday. The metal, used extensively in construction and wiring, rallied to a four-month high of $7,750 a tonne earlier this month.

* Three-month aluminium was at $2,150 a tonne from $2,154 a tonne.

DATA/EVENTS

* U.S. current account for Q2 due at 1230 GMT.

* U.S. weekly jobless claims and U.S. producer prices for August due at 1230 GMT.

* U.S. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's business activity index for September due at 1400 GMT.

* Eurostat Trade for July due at 0900 GMT.

* UK Retail sales for August due at 0830 GMT.

* ZURICH - Swiss National Bank (SNB) Monetary policy assessment - 1200 GMT

* FRANKFURT - ECB Governing Council and General Council meeting. (FINAL DAY). The meeting started on Wednesday afternoon and resumes on Thursday.

* BERLIN - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble speaks at a banking conference on "Financial market regulation - strengthening growth" - 1530 GMT
* LONDON - UK Financial Services Authority's annual asset management conference to focus on the future of the sector within Europe. Keynote speech from FSA Chairman Adair Turner.

* WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies on China currency to Senate Banking Committee - 1400 GMT.

* WASHINGTON - IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn delivers opening remarks at an event on reaching the Millennium Development Goals - 1900 GMT

* NEW YORK - CFTC Chair Gary Gensler delivers keynote address to the ISDA regional conference in New York on the Dodd-Frank Act - 1330 GMT

* XUZHOU CITY, JIANGSU, CHINA - 2010 International Silicon Conference & Photovoltaic Industrial Development Forum (to Sept. 17)

MARKET NEWS

* The yen crept higher on Thursday but the market was on the alert for more intervention by Japanese authorities after massive yen selling the previous day knocked the yen off a 15-year high against the dollar.
The dollar .DXY was 0.08 percent higher against a basket of major currencies.

* Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 ended down 0.1 percent after earlier climbing to the highest since Aug. 10. Large and liquid exporter stocks did well, with both Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote) and Sony (6758.T: Quote) up 1.7 percent.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 1 percent .MIAPJ0000PUS, weighed the most by profit taking in the materials sector and weakness in financials. [MKTS/GLOB]

* Oil fell for a third session on Thursday, shedding more than $1 after Enbridge said U.S. regulators had agreed to a Friday restart of its biggest pipeline from Canada, restoring crude flows to refiners in the Midwest.

* European equities turned positive in early trade on Thursday, helped by positive industrial goods shares, with investors waiting for more economic numbers for clearer market direction. [.EU]

* Wall Street advanced on Wednesday but remained hemmed in a recent trading range as disappointing economic data hindered the S&P 500 from breaking through a stubborn technical level.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Workers at Chilean state mining giant Codelco's Radomiro Tomic mine on Thursday rejected an early wage proposal, a union leader said, leaving a potential cloud over supply stability at the world's top copper producer
* Chile's lower house on Wednesday approved a revamped bill to increase royalties paid by mining companies to raise $1 billion to fund reconstruction after a massive earthquake, but senate approval is pending.

* Brazil's Alumar alumina refinery has been hit by power and commissioning problems but should be producing consistently more than 9,000 tonnes a day by year-end, one of its owners, Alumina Ltd (AWC.AX: Quote), said on Thursday.

* The two billionaires who co-own Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM: Quote) clashed at the Reuters Russia Summit, trading accusations ranging from abuse of funds to mismanagement but said the Kremlin would stay out of their brawl.

TECHNICALS

* Copper support at $7,050, resistance $8,000 and 14-day RSI at 56.7.

* Aluminium support at $1,860, resistance at $2,184 and 14-day RSI 56.1.