* U.S. copper speculators increase net shorts - CFTC * Range-trade may persist as market awaits policy shift By Rujun Shen SINGAPORE, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Shanghai copper edged down on Monday, after rising nearly 3 percent in the previous week on a raft of upbeat U.S. economic data, while concerns about the euro zone debt crisis and slower global growth continued to weigh on sentiment. New orders for U.S. durable goods soared in November and new home sales hit a seven-month high, although consumer spending was tepid and a gauge of business investment fell for a second straight month, data on Friday showed. The most-active Shanghai copper futures contract lost 0.6 percent to 55,500 yuan a tonne by 0226 GMT, snapping four consecutive sessions of gains. It hit a two-week high of 55,940 yuan earlier in the day. Trading on the London Metal Exchange was closed on Monday for a public holiday. "Shanghai copper is trading near the top of its recent range after recent data from the United States sent encouraging signals," said Zhou Jie, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures, adding that Shanghai copper will likely range between 53,500 yuan to 56,000 yuan. But investors remained concerned about the lingering euro zone debt crisis and slower global growth. Speculators increased their net short positions on U.S. copper futures and options by 2,065 contracts to a three-week high of 5,455 contracts. "We may see range-trade to last as long we don't see any policy breakthrough on the euro zone debt crisis or China's growth pattern," said a Shanghai-based trader. Market participants have expected the world's top economies to loosen up monetary policy to spur growth, which would buoy commodities. Base metals prices at 0226 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg SHFE CU FUT MAR2 55500 -350 -0.63 -22.76 SHFE AL FUT MAR2 15890 -20 -0.13 -5.64 SHFE ZN FUT MAR2 14825 -175 -1.17 -23.88 SHFE PB FUT 15200 -115 -0.75 -17.17

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