Copper up ahead of U.S. jobs data, gains fragile

* LME stocks of copper and aluminium rise

 * Oil up, Brent LCOc1 pushing towards $116

 * Coming up: U.S. payrolls data, 1330 GMT

 (Updates prices)

 By Rebekah Curtis

 LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Copper rose on Friday, helped by
expectations of upbeat figures from a U.S. jobs report due
later, but fighting in oil-producing Libya capped gains as
rising oil prices stoked concerns of inflation hitting growth.

 Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was
$9,980 a tonne in official rings, from a last bid of $9,910 a
tonne on Thursday.

 "...the market is waiting for the payrolls data," said Leon
Westgate of Standard Bank.

 "The very good performance of the U.S. equities and the
positive Shanghai composite index also boosted sentiment," he
added, after a strong performance in Asian shares.

 Investors betting on a big gain in U.S. payrolls pushed Wall
Street to its best one-day rally in three months on Thursday.
[.N]

 U.S. employers probably hired more workers in February than
in any month since May last year, with nonfarm payrolls
increasing 185,000, according to a Reuters survey.
[ID:nN03204001]

 Spirits were higher after a recent spate of upbeat data from
the world's biggest economy, including figures on jobless claims
and U.S. services sector on Thursday. [ID:nOAT004756]
[ID:nN03138882]

 Nonetheless, tensions have run high in markets since a wave
of unrest has spread across the Middle East and North Africa
this year. nTOPMEAST

 Crude oil rose over $1 on Friday, with Brent LCOc1 pushing
towards $116, as fighting in Libya intensified with fresh
reports of air strikes, and on protests in Saudi Arabia's
oil-producing Eastern Province.  [O/R]

 STOCKS CLIMB

 Stocks of copper in LME warehouses last rose 1,250 tonnes to
425,300 tonnes, their highest level since July last year as
traders cited weakening physical demand.

 "We would argue that industrial metals may find it difficult
to break higher in the near-term as long as inventories do not
register meaningful outflows again," Credit Suisse said in a
note.

 "Spreads between Shanghai and London prices additionally
hint at some moderation in Chinese demand," the note added. 

 "However, we think that the fundamental backdrop remains
broadly supportive and expect the uptrend to accelerate soon."

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  Graphic on LME stocks, see: link.reuters.com/deg67n

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

 The growing piles of metal have moved the copper curve into
a $8.5 contango -- a discount for cash over three-month material
MCU0-3 -- from a $70 backwardation, or the premium for cash
over three-month material, in mid-December.

 Aluminium stocks climbed 7,250 tonnes to 4,606,200 tonnes,
within reach of a record high 4,640,750 hit in January 2010.

 Aluminium CMAL3 was $2,623 a tonne in rings, from a last
bid of $2,611 on Thursday.

 Zinc CMZN3 was at $2,512 a tonne from $2,512 at the close
on Thursday and battery material lead CMPB3 was at $2,655 a
tonne from a close of $2,619 a tonne.

 Tin CMSN3, untraded in rings, was bid at $31,925 from
$31,650 a tonne. Nickel CMNI3 was $28,905 in official rings
from $28,860 a tonne.

 Metal Prices at 1305 GMT
Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in
yuan/T
 Metal            Last      Change  Pct Move   End 2010   Ytd Pct

                                                          move
 COMEX Cu       453.00        4.75     +1.06     444.70      1.87
 LME Alum      2618.00       15.00     +0.58    2470.00      5.99
 LME Cu        9979.00      119.00     +1.21    9600.00      3.95
 LME Lead      2653.00       34.00     +1.30    2550.00      4.04
 LME Nickel   28905.00       45.00     +0.16   24750.00     16.79
 LME Tin      31925.00      275.00     +0.87   26900.00     18.68
 LME Zinc      2512.00        0.00     +0.00    2454.00      2.36
 SHFE Alu     16990.00       45.00     +0.27   16840.00      0.89
 SHFE Cu*     74720.00      580.00     +0.78   71850.00      3.99
 SHFE Zin     19270.00      150.00     +0.78   19475.00     -1.05
** Benchmark month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07

(Source: http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFLDE7230Q620110304)