NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures extended gains Tuesday morning on the back of a weaker dollar and strong car sales data in China, but lingering demand fears in the world's top copper consumer could still drag prices down. For detailed report on global copper markets, click on [MET/L]. * Benchmark copper for March delivery HGH0 rose 4.00 cents, or 1.37 percent, to $295.30 per lb by 10:04 am EST (15:04 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. * Range from $296.85 to $287.65. * On Monday, March copper firmed 5.55 cents, or 1.9 percent, to settle at $2.9130 per lb. * COMEX estimated futures volume stood at 17,858 lots by 9 a.m. * A weaker dollar helped copper extend gains. The euro gained ground against the dollar on Tuesday as investors speculated on a possible bail out for debt-laden Greece. [ID:nLDE6181IZ] * Copper futures slid around 6 percent last week on concerns over the fiscal health of some euro zone countries and a stronger greenback. * Strong China car sales in January also improved market sentiment on the economy of the world's top copper consumer. However, worries linger that China could cut copper imports as it tries to prevent its economy from overheating. [ID:nTOE61803K] * London Metal Exchange (LME) copper warehouse stocks eased by 50 tonnes to 541,050 tonnes on Tuesday. <0#LME-STOCKS> * COMEX copper stocks unchanged at 105,206 short tons as of Monday. * LME benchmark copper for three-month delivery MCU3 last traded at $6,547 a tonne, up $97 from Monday close. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; editing by Jim Marshall)

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