METALS-LME Copper holds near 4-1/2 month top after Fed move

SHANGHAI, Sept 17 (Reuters) - London copper edged down
slightly on Monday after steep gains in the previous session,
although prices did not stray too far from a 4-1/2 month top as
a new round of U.S. monetary stimulus measures and a weak dollar
continued to support sentiment.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
had ticked down 0.3 percent to $8,354.75 per tonne by 0158 GMT,
after touching a high of $8,386.25 earlier -- near a 4-1/2 month
top of $8,411 hit in the previous session.
* LME copper rose 3.8 percent on Friday - its largest daily
percentage gain since June 29.
* The most active January copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange edged down 0.2 percent to 60,240 yuan
($9,500) per tonne.
* The Federal Reserve will buy a total of $600 billion of
bonds under its new stimulus program announced Thursday, known
as QE3, and will look for a U.S. unemployment rate of 7 percent
before it halts the program, according to the median of
forecasts from a Reuters poll on Friday.
* A sour mix of U.S. data -- higher gasoline prices, a rise
in consumer prices and a drop in industrial output -- helped
justify the Fed's decision to launch the third round of bond
purchases to spur growth.
* Spain told euro zone finance ministers on Friday it will
set clear deadlines for structural reforms by the end of the
month, in a move European diplomats said would pave the way for
an aid request before long to help it tackle its debt pile.

* Greece may get more time to reach financial targets under
its 130 billion euro rescue package but probably not more money,
its international lenders signalled on Friday, saying a decision
had to come by the end of October.
* After months of dithering on the economy, India's
beleaguered government roared back to life in dramatic fashion
on Friday, announcing big bang reforms as part of package of
measures aimed at reviving growth and staving off a ratings
downgrade.
* Brazil's economy kicked off the third quarter at a
slightly stronger pace than expected, suggesting an incipient
recovery is taking hold after a year-long campaign of government
measures to stimulate growth, central bank data showed on
Friday.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
, or

MARKET NEWS
* Asian stocks held steady on Monday and gold, oil and
copper hovered near multi-month highs, after markets rallied
late last week on hopes that fresh stimulus measures from the
developed world's big central banks will support flagging
growth.
* The dollar languished near a seven-month trough versus a
basket of major currencies in Asia on Monday, but recovered some
ground against a broadly weaker yen, which faces a central bank
that could ease monetary policy this week.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0800 Euro zone current account for July
0900 Euro zone Eurostat trade for July
0900 Euro zone labour costs for Q2
1230 New York Fed Empire State Survey for September

Base metals prices at 0158 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg
LME Cu 8354.75 -25.25 -0.30 9.93
SHFE CU FUT JAN3 60240 -130 -0.22 8.29
LME Alum 2180.00 -20.00 -0.91 7.92
SHFE AL FUT DEC2 15865 -25 -0.16 0.16
HG COPPER DEC2 381.10 -2.15 -0.56 10.91
LME Zinc 2094.50 -21.50 -1.02 13.52
SHFE ZN FUT DEC2 15805 -40 -0.25 6.83
LME Nickel 17700.00 -75.00 -0.42 -5.40
LME Lead 2248.50 -16.50 -0.73 10.49
SHFE PB FUT 16180 -20 -0.12 5.82
LME Tin 21675.00 0.00 +0.00 12.89
LME/Shanghai arb 1502

Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months
^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE
third month

($1 = 6.3145 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Carrie Ho; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
(carrie.ho@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 6104 1775; Reuters
Messaging:; carrie.ho.reuters.com@reuters.net)