(Recasts, adds analyst comment, detail) * Chile's Codelco seeks to avert 24 hr strike * New copper records seen in 2H - BNP Paribas * Coming Up: U.S. factory orders for May at 1400 GMT By Melanie Burton July 5 (Reuters) - Copper steadied on Tuesday as a pick up in demand for risky assets petered out and markets awaited U.S. data for fresh direction, while some wondered if copper prices have climbed too far too fast, given still-scant signs of demand from China. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at $9,445 a tonne, compared with a close of $9,455 a tonne on Monday. The metal used in power and construction rallied to a two-month peak of $9,520.25 the prior session, but remains still some 7 percent from a record seen in February "(A price recovery) seems to me a little bit early. We've got all of these problems around the macro market... and I don't think the evidence of Chinese demand picking up is strong enough yet," analyst Stephen Briggs of BNP Paribas said. "Sentiment a couple of weeks ago was quite poor...this is a relief rally," he added. A pick up in demand for risky assets from last week softened a bit on some speculation about a possible rate rise in China this weekend, as well as a Moody's report saying the scale of problem loans at local governments in China may be much bigger than previously thought. Expectations that appetite from top consumer China will improve alongside European and U.S. industry after summer -- against a backdrop of constricted supply -- has fed predictions that copper will print new records later this year. BNP Paribas sees copper hitting a record near $11,000 in the second half. But so far, Chinese consumers do not appear to be making major buys. LME copper stocks have fallen by some 12,000 tonnes to two-month lows, but the latest inventories data from the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed that stocks jumped by more than 9,000 tonnes on the week. CU-STX-SGH "Backwardation in the (Shanghai) market has all but disappeared following last week's stock increase. This is a sign that the buying has dropped as prices have risen too fast for some," broker Triland said in a note. Elsewhere, the euro looked set to snap a six-day winning streak on Tuesday, as the dollar was bought back broadly on concerns over the Chinese economy and speculation that U.S. companies will repatriate dollars earned overseas. "Overall we would watch the dollar closely if it continues to rebound then we would expect that to produce a headwind for the metals," FastMarkets said in a note. SUPPLY PIPELINE The copper supply pipeline, which is at risk of severe disruptions, was highlighted again on Tuesday, with weather and strike issues in the world's top copper producer, Chile, overnight. Chile's giant Collahuasi copper mine said on Monday it was operating under a contingency plan due to bad weather that has delayed a workers' shift. Meanwhile, state-run Codelco sought to avert a 24-hour strike by workers demanding a bigger say in its restructuring. [IDnN1E76310A] This comes on the heels of a seven-day strike at Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc's Indonesian unit on Monday. In other metals, battery material lead was at $2,673 from $2,684. A trader said there had been a flurry of demand for high grade material in Europe. Aluminium was at $2,514 from $2,510. Stainless steel material nickel was at $23,287 from $23,175. Tin changed hands at $25,850 from a bid of $25,650 while zinc , used in galvanizing, was at $2,386 from $2,398 on Monday's close. Metal Prices at 0936 GMT Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2009 Ytd Pct move COMEX Cu 429.15 -0.50 -0.12 334.65 28.24 LME Alum 2511.00 1.00 +0.04 2230.00 12.60 LME Cu 9420.00 -35.00 -0.37 7375.00 27.73 LME Lead 2683.50 -0.50 -0.02 2432.00 10.34 LME Nickel 23175.00 0.00 +0.00 18525.00 25.10 LME Tin 25650.00 -400.00 -1.54 16950.00 51.33 LME Zinc 2397.00 -1.00 -0.04 2560.00 -6.37 SHFE Alu 17300.00 -75.00 -0.43 17160.00 0.82 SHFE Cu* 70330.00 -440.00 -0.62 59900.00 17.41 SHFE Zin 18080.00 -20.00 -0.11 21195.00 -14.70 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 (Editing by Keiron Henderson)

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