REFILE-METALS-LME copper eyeing first weekly loss in four

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SINGAPORE, Feb 3 (Reuters) - London copper sagged on
Friday on caution ahead of key U.S. employment data, and is
heading for its first weekly loss in the past month as slow
Chinese demand and worries about Greece's drawn-out debt deal
took the steam out of last week's rally to four-month highs.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
slipped 0.3 percent to $8,320 a tonne by 0116 GMT, and down 2.4
percent so far this week.
* The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange fell 0.6 percent to 59,500 yuan a
tonne.
* U.S. nonfarm payrolls are expected to have risen by
150,000 after increasing 200,000 in December, the dip mainly due
to temporary workers hired during the Christmas season being
laid off, according to a Reuters poll.
* Ahead of that data, new claims for unemployment benefits
in the United States fell more than expected last week, pointing
to further healing in the nation's battered jobs market.

* Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday defended
the U.S. central bank's policies against charges from Republican
lawmakers that they risked sparking inflation, saying the
economy still needs plenty of support.
* Commodities trader Glencore is in talks to buy
mining group Xstrata in an all-share transaction that
could create a combined group worth more than 50 billion pounds
($79 billion), shaking up the industry with its biggest deal to
date.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
, or

MARKETS NEWS
* Major global currencies marked time early in Asia on
Friday, as investors retreated to the sidelines ahead of a U.S.
jobs report that could reinforce the recent improvement in risk
sentiment, or unravel it.
* U.S. stocks ended little changed on Thursday ahead of
Friday's key employment report, but technology shares rose after
strong earnings from chipmaker Qualcomm.
* U.S. crude oil rose towards $97 a barrel on Friday,
supported by positive U.S. jobless claims data and hopes for a
deal between the EU and Greece on the country's debt.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0858 EZ Markit Services PMI Jan
1330 U.S. Non-farm payrolls Jan
2030 U.S. CFTC commitment of traders data

Base metals prices at 0116 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg
LME Cu 8320.00 -25.00 -0.30 9.47
SHFE CU FUT APR2 59500 -380 -0.63 7.48
HG COPPER MAR2 377.90 -0.20 -0.05 9.98
LME Alum 2206.75 11.75 +0.54 9.25
SHFE AL FUT APR2 16200 -70 -0.43 2.24
LME Zinc 2085.50 -9.50 -0.45 13.04
SHFE ZN FUT APR2 15830 -115 -0.72 7.00
LME Nickel 20800.00 -50.00 -0.24 11.17
LME Lead 2166.00 2.00 +0.09 6.44
SHFE PB FUT 15980.00 -145.00 -0.90 4.55
LME Tin 24150.00 0.00 +0.00 25.78
LME/Shanghai arb^ 1844

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

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Richard Pullin)