METALS-Copper ends up after Bernanke keeps stimulus hopes alive

* Bernanke does not explicitly signal imminent monetary easing
* Copper recovers from initial drop to 10-day after Bernanke speech
* Tin sinks 7 percent on the week
* Coming up: China PMI this weekend, ECB meeting next week

By Chris Kelly and Susan Thomas
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Copper rose on Friday to end August with
a monthly gain, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said high
unemployment is a "grave concern", leaving investors hopeful for another round
of government bond buying, or quantitative easing, or QE, from the U.S. central
bank.
Copper fell to a 10-day low early but recovered with other financial markets
after Bernanke said the Fed would act as needed to strengthen the economy. While
he did not say a move was imminent, investors were hopeful.
"The hope of another round of QE from the Fed is not off the table, it's
just kicked down the road, so that hope is still alive and acting as a strong
bid under the market," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital.
COMEX copper for December delivery rose 1.00 cent to settle at
$3.4570 per lb, after dealing between $3.4075 and $3.4680.
For the month, the contract was up nearly 1 percent.
On the London Metal Exchange (LME), benchmark copper initially fell
to a session low of $7,498 a tonne, its lowest since Aug. 21, before ending up
$40 at $7,610.
The metal is still down around 13 percent from its 2012 peak hit in February
at $8,765, and has been trapped in a range this month between $7,300 and $7,700
amid low trading volumes.
With the Fed chairman's speech in the rear view mirror, the market will
watch whether the European Central Bank announces a clear plan to tackle the
euro zone debt crisis at its policy meeting next week.
"The noose is around Draghi's neck, not around the Fed's neck right now,"
Sarhan said, referring to ECB President Mario Draghi.
"The reality is that the U.S. is not yet in a position where it needs QE3
right now ... however, Europe is. Bernanke made it abundantly clear that they'll
have a wait-and-see approach, and act if the data forces his hand. Right now,
the data just hasn't been bad enough," he said.
Data Friday showed new orders for U.S. factory goods rose in July by the
most since July 2011.
This reinforced a steady stream of positive economic data from the U.S. over
the past week in areas such as consumer spending, housing, inflation and
employment.
In Europe, Spain is negotiating with euro zone partners over conditions for
aid to bring down its borrowing costs, though the country has not made a final
decision to request a bailout, three euro zone sources said on Thursday.

The focus moved to the weekend, when China will release its official
manufacturing managers' index (PMI). "A weak reading would increase the downside
risks," Credit Suisse said in a research note.
A Reuters survey showed the PMI may have eased to a nine-month low of 50 in
August, which would support the case for fresh easing measures by the central
bank.
In other news on Friday, copper production at Chile's Codelco declined 6.4
percent in the first half from a year earlier to 767,000 tonnes, the miner said
on Friday, but the world's No. 1 copper producer said it still intends to
produce around 1.7 million tonnes this year.

TIN
In other metals, LME tin, was untraded in rings but last bid at
$19,350 per tonne versus Thursday's closing price of $19,600. The metal slumped
nearly 7 percent on the week -- its biggest weekly drop in almost a year.
Indonesia's largest tin miner PT Timah said on Wednesday it had
re-started spot sales after a three-week stoppage.
That took the steam out of a rally that saw prices shoot up 13 percent last
week, rising as high as $20,901 on news that more than 90 percent of Indonesian
tin producers had stopped production.
"Tin is a very thin market at the best of times. The rally was looking
stretched and then out came the fundamental news that was announced by PT Timah,
and that was the trigger for the sharp sell-off," BNP Paribas analyst Stephen
Briggs said.
"When you get a piece of negative news, tin tends to drop like a stone
because of the liquidity. It has begun to stabilise and I think the fundamentals
are still pretty solid."

Metal Prices at 1752 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2011 Ytd Pct
move
COMEX Cu 345.20 0.50 +0.15 343.60 0.47
LME Alum 1895.00 19.00 +1.01 2020.00 -6.19
LME Cu 7615.00 45.00 +0.59 7600.00 0.20
LME Lead 1965.00 21.00 +1.08 2035.00 -3.44
LME Nickel 15945.00 -30.00 -0.19 18710.00 -14.78
LME Tin 19350.00 -250.00 -1.28 19200.00 0.78
LME Zinc 1840.00 6.00 +0.33 1845.00 -0.27
SHFE Alu 15365.00 -50.00 -0.32 15845.00 -3.03
SHFE Cu* 55590.00 -200.00 -0.36 55360.00 0.42
SHFE Zin 14675.00 -100.00 -0.68 14795.00 -0.81
** Benchmark month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07