MARKETS-METALS (UPDATE 2) * Greece won't derail global economy * Investors look at bullish stocks detail (Recasts, adds comment/details, pvs Singapore) By Pratima Desai LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Copper prices jumped on Tuesday to their highest in more than two weeks as the dollar slipped and investors eyeing strong growth in Asia and bullish inventory data, piled into industrial metals. Aluminium touched $2,095 a tonne, the highest since Feb. 4 and nickel hit a near six month high of $19,875 a tonne. Benchmark copper was trading at $6,995 a tonne at 1126 GMT compared with $6,870 at the close on Monday. Earlier on Tuesday the metal used in power and construction hit $7,039.50 a tonne, the highest since January 28. The euro rose against the dollar, which makes commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies, recovering after recent losses as investors concluded that much of the bad news on Greece's fiscal deficit was priced in. Demand growth for commodities has, for some years now, been led by emerging economies such as China, the world's largest consumer of industrial metals, which is expected to grow by more than 11 percent in the first quarter. "Greece is a concern, but it isn't going to derail the global economy and metals demand, which is driven by the emerging world," said Robin Bhar, analyst at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank. "Perhaps we are all getting too fixated with all these macro concerns, missing the micro detail ... like stocks." CONCENTRATION Stocks of copper in LME warehouses at 549,900 tonnes are at their highest since October 2003. That is a negative, but the market is looking at cancelled warrants -- material already earmarked for delivery. Copper cancelled warrants at above 16,000 tonnes from 3,625 tonnes on February 8 are mostly concentrated in Korea and analysts say they are probably heading for China. "Yes, stocks are very high, but the rise in cancelled warrants could be the start of a trend, similar to the one we saw last year," a London-based metals trader said. Cancelled warrants on aluminium stocks are at 295,175 tonnes compared with 256,550 on February 8. With stocks near record levels above 4.587 million tonnes, cancelled warrants are a small percentage. But in the context of financing deals, which have tied up much aluminium stocks, they are very significant, analysts said. Prices of aluminium, used in transport and packaging were at $2,083 a tonne from $2,054 on Monday, while stainless steel material nickel was at $19,800 from $19,350. Stocks of nickel fell to 164,856 tonnes on Feb. 15 from 166,356 on Feb. 10. Nickel prices over the same period are up about 10 percent. Material tagged for delivery nearly doubled to 5,460 tonnes on Feb 15 from 2,394 on Feb 8. Most of the new cancelled nickel warrants were in Singapore. Higher prices have triggered a debate about strength of demand for stainless steel, which consumes about two-thirds of global nickel supply. "We can accept that nickel is currently being buoyed by a land grab in terms of stainless market share in Europe and the U.S." JPMorgan said in a note. "But (we) cannot see a material trend improvement in melt rates being sustained, even with low commercial inventories of stainless at end users." Battery material lead was tarding at $2,243 a tonne from Monday's last bid at $2,180, zinc at $2,245.75 from $2,200 on Monday and tin at $16,660 from $16,495. Metal Prices at 1150 GMT Metal Last Change Percent Move End 2009 Ytd Percent move COMEX Cu 316.30 8.05 +2.61 334.65 -5.48 LME Alum 2081.00 27.00 +1.31 2230.00 -6.68 LME Cu 6988.00 118.00 +1.72 7375.00 -5.25 LME Lead 2230.00 97.00 +4.55 2432.00 -8.31 LME Nickel 19725.00 375.00 +1.94 18525.00 6.48 LME Tin 16550.00 55.00 +0.33 16950.00 -2.36 LME Zinc 2243.00 43.00 +1.95 2560.00 -12.38 SHFE Alu 16825.00 185.00 +1.11 17160.00 -1.95 SHFE Cu* 56410.00 1020.00 +1.84 59900.00 -5.83 SHFE Zin 18345.00 270.00 +1.49 21195.00 -13.45 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 (Reporting by Pratima Desai; editing by Amanda Cooper)

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