METALS-Copper ends up as Dubai bailout boosts sentiment

* Dollar decline gives lift to metals * Aluminum surges, canceled warrants rise * LME copper stocks continue to rise (Recasts with New York closing copper price and broker comments;adds NEW YORK to dateline) By Chris Kelly and Maytaal Angel NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Copper prices ended higheron Monday, after a $10 billion bailout for debt-laden Dubaibolstered broader market sentiment and pressured the dollar,making dollar-priced metals a more attractive buy for non-U.S. investors. At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division,benchmark copper for March delivery HGH0 ended up 1.90 cents at$3.1520 a lb, after dealing in a session range between $3.1105 and$3.1640. Copper for three-months delivery MCU3 on the London MetalExchange (LME) closed up $78 at $6,913 a tonne. Pat Donnelly, senior broker with Olympus Futures in Chicago,said renewed weakness in the U.S. dollar provided a good bouncefor commodities at the start of the week. "We seem to be reflating a bit again," he said. The dollar slipped after a decision by Abu Dhabi to bail outfellow UAE member Dubai on Monday with a $10 billion lifelineeased fears of a potential debt default that had recently rattledmarkets and slowed safe-haven buying that lifted the U.S. currencylast week. [ID:nLDE5BD0FV] [USD/] "The rally in commodities has largely been a function of thedollar weakness," said Carl Firman, analyst at Virtual Metals. "Also, expectations are for continued signs of growth in OECDeconomies. China's demand for metals seems to be healthy." On Friday, strong Chinese data helped reinforce hopes that theAsian giant will continue strong buying next year. China's industrial output surged in November at its fastestpace since June 2007, while imports of unwrought copper andsemi-finished products rose 10.3 percent in November from October. [ID:nTOE5BA02W] [ID:nTOE5B8069] Copper prices have more than doubled this year on a weakdollar, increased fund flows, improved economic data and recordimport buying from top metals consumer China. But LME stocks of copper continue to rise, indicating demandoutside China remains weak. Latest data showed copper stocks rose1,075 tonnes to 467,150, the highest since April. ALUMINUM SURGES Aluminum MAL3, used in transport and packaging, ended theday at $2,260 a tonne, from $2,275, having earlier hit $2,305, itshighest since mid-October 2008 year. Canceled warrants of aluminum -- material earmarked fordelivery and therefore not available to the market -- have risento 193,525 tonnes, equal to 4.2 percent of the total inventories,which Barclays Capital said was the highest figure since June2008. Aluminum stocks hit a record high of 4.6 million tonnes inSeptember, before easing to around 4.59 million tonnes recently. Much of the stock is tied up in financing deals, which is causingshortages in various regions. [ID:nGEE5B20OB] "It looks like prices could head to $2,350 a tonne next. Thehigh level of LME inventories does not seem to be much of a drag,as much of the metal is apparently tied up in financing deals,"Edward Meir, analyst at MF Global, said in a research note. Investors are also piling into the metal as its gains havebeen relatively subdued this year, while commodity tradingadvisors (CTAs) -- funds that follow trends in futures markets --are unwinding bets on price falls in aluminum, traders say. Zinc MZN3 was at $2,334 from $2,298, while battery materiallead MPB3 traded at $2,339.5 from $2,301. Tin MSN3 was $100higher at $15,300 a tonne from Friday's $15,200, whilestainless-steel ingredient nickel MNI3 traded at $16,900 from$16,650. LME nickel stocks rose 912 tonnes to total 145,758, less than10,000 tonnes short of the record high of 151,254 in November1994. Metal Prices at 1944 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2008 Ytd Pct move COMEX Cu 313.30 2.30 +0.74 139.50 124.59 LME Alum 2258.00 -17.00 -0.75 1535.00 47.10 LME Cu 6925.00 90.00 +1.32 3060.00 126.31 LME Lead 2337.00 36.00 +1.56 999.00 133.93 LME Nickel 16933.00 283.00 +1.70 11700.00 44.73 LME Tin 15325.00 125.00 +0.82 10700.00 43.22 LME Zinc 2340.00 42.00 +1.83 1208.00 93.71 SHFE Alu 16425.00 280.00 +1.73 11540.00 42.33 SHFE Cu* 54990.00 710.00 +1.31 23840.00 130.66 SHFE Zin 18410.00 185.00 +1.02 10120.00 81.92 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in London; Editing by Keiron Henderson, Sue Thomas and Christian Wiessner)