The price of copper slipped to its lowest level in one month in New York futures trade Friday morning after a huge jump in London stockpiles and as the U.S. dollar rallied amid worries about global economic recession. For detailed report on global copper markets, click on [MET/L] * Copper for March delivery HGH9 was off 4.80 cents, or 3.3 percent, at $1.4230 a lb by 10:24 a.m. EST (1524 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. * Morning range from $1.4695 to $1.3950, the contract's lowest price point since Jan. 23. * COMEX estimated copper futures volume at 9,902 lots by 9 a.m. * Copper under pressure from persistent uncertainties about how deep the global economic recession will get and its negative demand impact for industrial metals - Bart Melek, Global Commodity Strategist with BMO Nesbitt Burns in Toronto. * "The demand side is clearly in the driver's seat of this market." - Melek. * The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its 2009 economic forecast sharply, saying the economy was likely to shrink by between 0.5 percent and 1.3 percent this year, weighed down by rising unemployment, frozen credit and the housing crisis. * Copper could be in store for a long period of congestion between $1.30 and $1.60 - Melek. * Copper's bearish demand outlook highlighted by rising stockpiles in London. * London Metal Exchange copper warehouse stocks surged 17,350 tonnes to 545,600 tonnes on Friday, their highest level in five years. * COMEX copper stocks added another 179 short tons on Thursday, bringing total inventory levels to 42,110 short tons. * In Shanghai, copper inventories fell 11 percent from a week earlier to 30,105 tonnes. This was the first decline since mid-January when stockpiles were just half the current level. [ID:nBJD000586] * China's State Reserves Bureau (SRB) is believed to have bought over 100,000 tonnes of refined copper from South America plus further unknown volumes from Europe - Norddeutsche Affinerie (NAFG.DE), Europe's largest copper producer. [ID:nLK804048] * Copper's early decline fueled by a weaker open on Wall Street and firmer tone in the U.S. dollar .DXY - traders. * London Metal Exchange copper for three months delivery was last trading at $3,190 a tonne, down $100 from Thursday's kerb close.

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