(Reuters) - Copper was little changed on Friday ahead of jobs data from the United States, supported by a firm euro against the dollar but pressured by concerns over poor demand from top consumer China. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was little changed at $8,297 a metric tonne by 1043 GMT from a close of $8,305 on Friday, but was on track for a 1 percent increase this week. Trading volumes were low this week as a holiday in China kept a large number of players away from the market. The metal, widely used in power and construction, has gained almost 10 percent in the past month, helped by actions by central banks in the U.S., Europe and Japan to loosen their monetary policy in an attempt to boost growth. Sluggish metals demand from top buyer China, which makes up for 40 percent of the global copper demand, kept a lid on the rally, however. Investors are now turning to September non-farm payrolls data later on Friday which might offer more clues on whether the central banks action is starting to translate into an economic improvement. "If you get a good job number the base metals could get a bit of a boost but what goes on in China is more significant," said Natixis analyst Nic Brown. "After the political handover we will see more stimulus policies in China and we should see some stronger growth so we expect a pick-up in copper prices next year but it will be more muted than typical economic recoveries because there are large inventories in China." Helping metals, the euro hovered near a two-week high versus the dollar after the European Central Bank (ECB) reiterated it was ready to buy bonds to tackle the debt crisis. A softer U.S. currency against the euro makes dollar-priced commodities such as metals cheaper for holders of the single currency. ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that everything was in place for the bank to buy the bonds of troubled euro zone countries such as Spain and that conditions linked to it need not be punitive. Taking some shine off global growth prospects though, a German newspaper report said the International Monetary Fund would lower its forecasts for global economic growth to 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent in 2013 from earlier forecasts of 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent. CHINESE DIET China's appetite for metals may be muted when it returns on Monday given prices are $100 higher this week, a trader in Singapore said, with a U.S. holiday on Monday also likely to keep trading quiet. Direction will hinge on whether the September jobs report meets expectations, he added. Data from the U.S. on Thursday showed unemployment rose only slightly last week after a big drop the week before, a hopeful sign the job market is still on the mend. In other metals, aluminum, used in packaging and carmaking, was at $2,109.50 from $2,112 at the close on Thursday. Aluminum premiums - money paid over the benchmark LME cash price to secure immediate delivery of physical metal - have been on a steady uptrend since the beginning of the year. "Inventory financing and cancelled warrants are driving Aluminum premiums higher by lengthening the queue to obtain Aluminum from LME warehouses," Commonwealth Bank said in a research note. "We expect inventory financing to keep Aluminum premiums rising and suspect that smelters that appear uneconomical on an LME Aluminum cash level are remaining afloat by claiming some part of the premium in their pricing." Tin was at $22,600 from $22,500 while zinc, used to galvanize steel was at $2,064 from $2,065 at Thursday's close. Battery material lead was at $2,269.50 from $2,290.5 and nickel was at $18,685 from $18,675.

Source