* Asian equities pare early gains, euro falters * German top court gives Berlin more say over euro zone bailouts * Chinese investors cautious ahead of economic data -analyst * Coming up: U.S. president's job creation speech; 2300 GMT (Updates prices, adds quotes and details) By Carrie Ho SHANGHAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Copper prices edged down on Thursday, tracking a downturn in Asian equities and the euro, as worries about the euro zone debt crisis and a faltering U.S. economy undermined confidence. Investors are waiting for price direction from a speech by United States President Barack Obama to the U.S. Congress on job creation due later on Thursday. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange drifted down 0.4 percent to $9,053.75 a tonne by 0713 GMT, after rising 1.8 percent in the previous session. A rebound in Asian stocks ran out of steam on Thursday, and waning risk appetite also hit the euro , which slipped ahead of a European Central Bank meeting that is expected to end its rate tightening cycle to support weaker euro zone economies. This followed a rally in risk assets after the Constitutional Court in the southern German city of Karlsruhe handed Germany's parliament greater say over euro zone bailouts on Wednesday. Despite a slight downturn in LME copper prices, sentiment seemed to be cautious, rather than gloomy, ahead of Obama's speech. He is expected to offer a plan to jumpstart flagging U.S. jobs growth that relies on a package of tax cuts and government spending that could cost upward of $200 billion. "I think there is a cautious optimism that Obama could announce greater plans to boost jobs. If he does, I think that could be positive for risk assets in general," said Phillip Futures analyst Ong Yiling. "I think (the German court ruling) caused a broadbased increase in risk appetite overnight and hence copper is holding above the $9,000 level," she added. In China, a series of Chinese economic data due this week is keeping investors on their toes. The most-active November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFc3 edged down 0.1 percent to close at 67,720 yuan per tonne. "The market is cautious ahead of a series of data on China this week, including CPI figures, which many are pessimistic about," Shanghai CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou Jie said. "Investors are trading within tight ranges of between 67,000 and 68,000 yuan for ShFE copper, shying away when prices rise, and buying when they dip," he added. Analysts noted that copper's losses were limited by a large cancellation of warrants from ShFE warehouses on Thursday, where stocks fell 9,656 tonnes to 307,516 tonnes. But some positive news out of the euro zone may have also helped limit losses in base metals. German industrial output rose far more than expected in July, boosted by a jump in durable goods, offering some hope that Europe's largest economy may avoid recession. The Italian Senate on Wednesday approved the government's widely criticised austerity programme aimed at staving off a financial crisis. In Greece, officials were hopeful that banks would eventually participate in a bond swap deal as targeted, a key part of a bailout aimed at rescuing the euro zone member from bankruptcy. Copper supply is unlikely to be affected by a two-day pay strike on Wednesday at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold's Cerro Verde mine in Peru, which produces around 2 percent of the world's copper. But workers at the company's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world's third-largest, are still set to strike from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 unless the firm gives them a pay rise. Base metals prices at 0713 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 9053.75 -38.25 -0.42 -5.69 SHFE CU FUT NOV1 67720 -80 -0.12 -5.75 LME Alum 2396.25 -7.75 -0.32 -2.99 SHFE AL FUT NOV1 17435 10 +0.06 3.53 HG COPPER DEC1 411.10 -2.10 -0.51 -7.40 LME Zinc 2219.00 -21.00 -0.94 -9.58 SHFE ZN FUT NOV1 17070 -75 -0.44 -12.35 LME Nickel 21650.00 -125.00 -0.57 -12.53 LME Lead 2404.00 -11.00 -0.46 -5.73 SHFE PB FUT 16610 -50 -0.30 -9.48 LME Tin 24350.00 -25.00 -0.10 -9.48 LME/Shanghai arb -82 Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month (Reporting by Carrie Ho; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Clarence Fernandez)

Source