US copper futures rally to 8-mth peak as dlr slips

NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures rallied more than 5 percent on Tuesday as renewed weakness in the dollar and strong technical momentum helped power prices to their highest levels in eight months.

For detailed report on global copper markets, click on [MET/L]

* Copper for July delivery HGN9 surged 11.25 cents, or 5 percent, to settle at $2.3655 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.

* Session range from $2.26 to $2.3690, a high for the benchmark July contract dating back to mid-October 2008.

* COMEX estimated futures volume at a healthy 32,870 lots by 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). Final volume on Monday hit 34,759 lots.

* Open interest rose by 304 lots to 112,070 contracts open as of June 8.

* Copper rallies in technical top-side breakout from recent triangle formation - Matthew Zeman, head of trading with LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago.

* Copper up in broad-based commodity rally in response to renewed losses in the U.S. dollar - Zeman.

* The euro EUR= extended gains against the dollar Tuesday morning, rising above $1.40, as equity markets rose and investors questioned whether the U.S. economy was strong enough to justify higher interest rates by year-end. [USD/]

* Reuters-Jefferies CRB index .CRB, a global commodities benchmark, up over 1 percent in late afternoon business.

* Copper underpinned by growing market expectations for a "V"-shaped recovery in China's industrial sector - Rob Kurzatkowski, futures analyst with OptionsXpress in Chicago.

* Copper rally overshadows data showing an unexpected 1.9 percent decline in German industrial output. [ID:nL9607235]

* Another 1,500-tonne drawdown in London Metal Exchange copper warehouse stocks <LME/STX1> offering additional price support.

* Canceled warrants -- metal set to leave warehouses -- fell to 31,300 tonnes from 32,475 tonnes the previous session, and represent 10.6 percent of total warehouse inventory levels.

* COMEX copper stocks CMWSU rose 247 short tons to 57,486 short tons as of Monday.

* A U.S. bankruptcy court gave copper miner Asarco LLC the go-ahead to set up custodial trust settlement agreements, which will allow it to settle environmental claims at about 54 sites across the United States. [ID:nBNG501038]

* Jiangxi Copper Corp has launched an expansion project at its Dexing copper mine to increase copper output by nearly one third - official Xinhua News Agency. [ID:nSHA125289]

* LME copper for three-months delivery MCU3 closed up $190 at $5,170 a tonne. (Reporting by Chris Kelly; editing by Jim Marshall)