* LME aluminium at near-three year high * Metal prices rose on LME and SHFE * Dovish comments from Fed meeting boosted * High energy prices supported aluminium prices (adds details) By Carrie Ho SINGAPORE, April 28 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange aluminium rose to its highest in nearly three years on Thursday in a cross-commodity market rally on a weaker dollar following dovish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve. By 0702 GMT, LME aluminium for three-month delivery rallied 1 percent to $2,771 a tonne, its highest since August 2008. London copper gained 1.4 percent to $9,465, while the rest of the complex rose 1.55 percent on a volume-weighted average basis. Metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended the session 0.76 percent higher on the same basis, while its most traded aluminium contact, July, SAFcv1 closed 0.2 percent higher at 16,845 yuan. "Aluminium is rising following a bullish market for all metals," a Sydney-based LME trader said. "Also driving it are rising crude oil prices, given their close energy correlation. There is a sense that production costs will rise. "At this point, people are not taking into account the high inventories. The Chinese also said they are replacing old capacities so people feel the market is not going to soften." Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke signalled on Wednesday the U.S. central bank was in no rush to scale back its support for the economy and repeated plans to keep overnight interest rates, held near zero since December 2008, extraordinarily low for "an extended period". [ID:nN26291565] NYMEX crude for June CLc1 gained 44 cents to $113.20 a barrel by 0611 GMT, but off an earlier high of $113.70. Brent LCOc1 gained 33 cents to $125.46 a barrel, after settling at $125.13 a barrel. [ID:nL3E7FS117] "Everyone has been on the sidelines in the last few days, waiting to see how this Fed meeting turns out. Now, with the assurance from the Fed and a weak dollar, many in the market are trying to take on some positions before the four-day holiday weekend on the LME," said Pinaki Rath, managing director of Gold Matrix Resources. The LME will be closed for Britain's royal wedding on Friday, and for a public holiday on Monday, when the Shanghai Futures Exchange will also be closed. However, analysts were also eyeing possible price pressure from U.S. GDP figures, due to be released at 1230 GMT on Thursday, with some estimating the figure will be lower than the previous market forecast of a 2 percent rise. UBS analyst Dominic Schnider said he pegged the figure at "closer to 1 percent". "I'm not upbeat about the U.S. economy so a lower-than-expected GDP figure will not surprise me. I think the effect of the data will only be felt later since the data will only be released after Shanghai closes today. For now, the market has priced in a lot of pessimism and treats any good news as a bonus," Rath said. Metals also benefited from a weaker greenback, with the dollar index falling to a fresh three-year low of 73.259, its lowest since August 2008. [ID:nLDE73R09Q] Positive sentiment from the Fed meeting also boosted U.S. crude futures, which rose in early trade to their highest in 2-1/2 years. Base metals prices at 0702 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 9465.00 144.00 +1.54 -1.41 SHFE CU FUT JUL1 70050 500 +0.72 -2.51 LME Alum 2771.00 27.50 +1.00 12.19 SHFE AL FUT JUL1 16845 35 +0.21 0.03 HG COPPER MAY1 428.45 -9.00 +1.34 -3.49 LME Zinc 2284.00 44.00 +1.96 -6.93 SHFE ZN FUT JUL1 17480 235 +1.36 -10.24 LME Nickel 26793.00 163.00 +0.61 8.25 LME Lead 2526.75 28.75 +1.15 -0.91 SHFE PB FUT 17755 205 +1.17 -3.24 LME Tin 32350.00 355.00 +1.11 20.26 LME/Shanghai arb 1951 Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month Shanghai lead launched on March 24 (Reporting by Carrie Ho; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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