METALS-Copper dips after two-day bounce on weak Chinese demand

* Traders say copper bulls lack conviction, expect short-lived rebound

* LME aluminium stocks rise 25,225 tonnes, copper also up

* Coming Up: U.S. Factory orders at 1500 GMT

(Adds details, quotes; previous SINGAPORE) LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Copper turned lower on Wednesday after a two-day rebound, weighed down by uncertainty about metals demand in the world's top consumer China and global economic growth. Copper has shed 7 percent since touching a high of $8,346 a tonne in early February as hopes fizzled that Chinese industrial users would rush to stock up following the Lunar new year holiday. "At the moment, the more negative news is prevailing and keeping the market in check," said analyst Daniel Briesemann at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "There were some disappointing economic data of late, China PMI for example and the trade data for January, they were quite weak." Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange shed 0.6 percent to $7,728.25 a tonne by 1033 GMT, erasing initial gains that took it above $7,800. Prices rebounded on Monday and Tuesday after touching $7,652 a tonne on Friday, its lowest since Nov. 19, but copper is down 2.5 percent for the year. The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.21 percent to close at 56,700 yuan ($9,100) a tonne. Briesemann said until additional Chinese economic and trade data provided a clearer picture, prices would likely fall further, but added this was an attractive buying opportunity. Independent technical analyst Cliff Green said copper was expected to turn lower after a brief corrective bounce, with an attack of the key level $7,640 on the cards. Traders in Asia said copper consumers were not buying at higher prices. "Compared to the new-year period, demand has improved a little, but we can't say it's stronger yet," said Chunlan Li, a Beijing-based analyst with metals consultancy CRU. Base metals markets were bucking a trend of firmer equity markets after Wall Street's Dow Jones industrial index surged to an all-time high on Tuesday. On Wednesday, European stock markets rose to their highest since the 2008 financial crisis, helped by signs the U.S. economy is improving and expectations of more pledges of support for growth from major central banks.

STOCKS RISE Helping to curb losses was news from the annual meeting of China's parliament, including a pledge to boost government spending to achieve 7.5 percent growth this year and an announcement that urbanisation would be the biggest driver of domestic activity in years ahead. LME inventories for many metals continued to rise on Wednesday, however, giving further weight to reports of weak demand. Copper stocks <MCUSTX-TOTAL> have surged by a fifth over the past month and doubled since October to 473,750 tonnes. Stocks of aluminium <MALSTX-TOTAL> jumped by 25,225 tonnes on Wednesday to 5.19 million tonnes, slightly off a record high of 5.24 million touched in December. Three month aluminium fell 0.8 percent to $1,961.25 a tonne and zinc lost 1.0 percent to $1,987. Lead shed 0.7 percent to $2,210 a tonne, nickel dropped 0.8 percent to $16,575 and tin fell 0.2 percent to $23,405. PRICES Metal Prices at 1035 GMT Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T

Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2012 Ytd Pct

move

COMEX Cu 350.10 -0.35 -0.10 365.25 -4.15 LME Alum 1961.00 -15.00 -0.76 2073.00 -5.40 LME Cu 7729.50 -42.50 -0.55 7931.00 -2.54 LME Lead 2210.25 -14.75 -0.66 2330.00 -5.14 LME Nickel 16566.00 -134.00 -0.80 17060.00 -2.90 LME Tin 23425.00 -25.00 -0.11 23400.00 0.11 LME Zinc 1986.50 -20.50 -1.02 2080.00 -4.50 SHFE Alu 14770.00 135.00 +0.92 15435.00 -4.31 SHFE Cu* 56730.00 -80.00 -0.14 57690.00 -1.66 SHFE Zin 15285.00 -75.00 -0.49 15625.00 -2.18 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN

SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07

($1 = 6.2209 Chinese yuan)

(Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in SINGAPORE; editing by James Jukwey)