METALS-Shanghai, LME copper fall, ShFE stocks up 7 pct

* Shanghai copper down 1.5 pct, LME eases 0.8 pct * LME trade resumes after exchange outage ALERT3 * ShFE copper stocks up 7 pct, below f'cast, but fresh 2-yr peak * Market on watch for U.S. housing data later (Updates with Shanghai stocks, prices) By Nick Trevethan SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Shanghai copper closed Friday down 1.5 percent after rising more than 2 percent in the previous session, pressured by weaker London futures following a surprise rise in weekly U.S. jobless claims. Mixed economic data from the United States continued to exercise investors' nerves. U.S. and European equities rose after a rebound in Chinese markets, which continued on Friday, but an unexpected rise in the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits last week weighed. [ID:nN20510281] Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region turned positive in August as a jump in new orders broke a 10-month streak of contraction, suggesting a potential economic recovery led by manufacturing. [ID:nLK703610] Investors will be waiting for Eurozone purchasing manager index data at 0758 GMT and U.S. existing home sales for July expected at 1400 GMT for their cues. "It's hard to make sense of short-term moves from fundamentals. You have to look at the data, in particular personal data -- jobless numbers, retail spending -- that kind of thing," said ANZ senior commodities analyst Mark Pervan. "Look at the mess that has unfolded over the past year or so. It was led by the consumer, mainly the housing market. That's where the pain is being felt, and that's where the recovery will come from." London Metal Exchange copper for three-month delivery MCU3 fell to $6,000 a tonne by 0751 GMT from Thursday's close of $6,049. Zinc MZN3 fell $18 to $1,786, lead MPB3 lost $7 to $1,813 and nickel MNI3 fell $178 to $18,697. A problem at the LME affecting all vendors that was resolved just before 0600 GMT meant volumes were fairly slim. Benchmark third-month Shanghai copper SCFc3 dropped 710 yuan to 46,910 yuan. Weekly Shanghai copper stocks data, released after the market shut on Friday, rose by 7.3 percent or 5,543 tonnes to 81,650 tonnes just below market expectations of a 6,000-10,000 tonne rise. Nevertheless Shanghai stocks stand at their highest in two years. For graphics showing weekly global metals stocks, click: here here here In the longer term, traders noted threats to supply were starting to coalesce and although the market is paying scant attention currently -- focus is firmly on demand -- those worries could support prices later this year and into 2010. Workers at Chile's Spence copper mine have demanded a 5.5 percent wage hike from owner BHP Billiton, marking the start of potentially tough collective contract negotiations, which include Billiton's Escondida and Codelco's Norte division later in the year. [ID:nN20538871] "Two years ago copper prices were up around $7,000 or $8,000 and the market was tracking towards new highs. Supply fears were a big factor supporting sentiment and to some extent the unions had the mining companies over a barrel," a Sydney dealer said. "It's a much different story today. We are at the bottom, or at least heading towards the bottom of a very deep recession, stocks are three times higher and no one gives a hoot about supply right now." He said the conditions were ripe for bitter, drawn out talks as the unions play for time and more solid signs of economic recovery emerge to justify their wage demands. Aluminium MAL3 fell $18 to $1,888. Prices have fallen around 5 percent so far this week, on track for their biggest weekly decline since late May. Global daily average primary aluminium output excluding China fell to 63,100 tonnes in July from 63,300 tonnes in June, data from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed on Thursday. IAI-PROD and <0#STOCKS-IAI> But Chinese production rose to 1.088 million tonnes in July from 1.029 million tonnes in June. [ID:nLK478087] "There is huge latent supply in aluminium in China and all those producers are getting a false signal from prices," ANZ's Pervan said. "These prices will ignite a huge supply response and it will be smelters in Western world that will be the casualty." Base metals prices at 0751 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2008 Pct chg 09 LME Cu 6000.00 -49.00 -0.81 3060.00 96.08 SHFE Cu* 46910.00 -710.00 -1.49 23840.00 96.77 LME Alum 1888.00 -18.00 -0.94 1535.00 23.00 SHFE Alum* 14810.00 -155.00 -1.04 11540.00 28.34 COMEX Cu** 273.15 -0.65 -0.24 139.50 95.81 LME Zinc 1786.00 -18.00 -1.00 1208.00 47.85 SHFE Zinc 14840.00 -110.00 -0.74 10120.00 46.64 LME Nickel 18697.00 -178.00 -0.94 11700.00 59.80 LME Lead 1813.00 -7.00 -0.38 999.00 81.48 LME Tin 13800.00 0.00 +0.00 10700.00 28.97 LME/Shanghai arb^ 1043 Dollar/yuan 6.8309 6.8319 For a graphic showing the LME Shanghai arbitrage, click: here ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contact month for SHFE aluminium, copper and zinc ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month (Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Muralikumar Anantharaman)