US copper ends mixed, may press on toward $2.50/lb

NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures ended mixed on Wednesday, with the front end of the curve managing to eke out modest gains, as prices consolidated from an overnight push to 8-month highs and looked set to extend the momentum up toward $2.50 per lb.

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

* Copper for July delivery HGN9 ended up 0.15 cent at $2.3670 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.

* Session range from $2.3380 to $2.3955, a new high for the benchmark July contract dating back to mid-October 2008.

* COMEX estimated futures volume at 24,625 lots by 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). Final volume on Tuesday jumped to 40,351 lots.

* Open interest dropped 2,250 lots to 109,820 contracts open as of June 9.

* Market consolidates from technical breakout of a six-day consolidation triangle pattern on Tuesday. Strong momentum likely to fuel prices closer to $2.50 level - Tom Hartman, broker with Altavest Worldwide Trading in Mission Viejo, California.

* Copper upside restrained by rebound in the U.S. dollar versus the EUR= - Hartman.

* The dollar bounced higher against the euro after a government sale of $19 billion in 10-year notes eased investor fears about the United States' ability to sell long-term debt. [USD/]

* Market sentiment lifted by local media reports in China that the country's industrial production rose by 8.9 percent in May from a year earlier. [ID:nPEK63329]

* Copper market existing on Chinese demand and a general money flow into commodities as an asset class - Bill O'Neill, partner of LOGIC Advisors in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

* London Metal Exchange copper warehouse stocks <LME/STX1> dropped 2,075 tonnes to 294,275 tonnes on Wednesday.

* Canceled warrants -- metal set to leave warehouses -- continued to decline, falling to 29,075 tonnes on Tuesday and equivalent to 9.9 percent of total inventory levels.

* COMEX copper stocks CMWSU edged up 27 short tons to 57,513 short tons as of Tuesday.

* Zambia's copper production in the four months to end-April rose to 218,101 tonnes compared with 192,064 tonnes for the same period last year. [ID:nWEA6320]

* Chinese copper smelters are considering an anti-dumping filing against sulphuric acid imports from Japan and South Korea - smelter sources. [ID:nHKG200307]

* LME copper for three-months delivery MCU3 ended up $10 at $5,180 a tonne, after rallying to a new 8-month high at $5,264 a tonne. (Reporting by Chris Kelly; Editing by Marguerita Choy)