* Copper up 0.1 pct on LME, 0.4 pct on ShFE * LME copper prices stay pivoted at around $8,800 - analyst * New orders for U.S. long-lasting manufactured goods rose in July * U.S. Initial jobless claims, Weekly; 1230 GMT (Updates prices, adds quotes and details) By Carrie Ho SHANGHAI, Aug 25 (Reuters) - LME copper was steady on Thursday as encouraging U.S. durable goods data and a rise in equities supported sentiment, but investors were cautious as they looked for direction from the health of the global economy. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.1 percent to $8,885 a tonne by 0420 GMT, after rising 0.3 percent in the last session. The most-active November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFc3 rose 0.4 percent to 66,750 yuan per tonne by its midday close, after falling 0.3 percent in the last session. "LME copper prices haven't changed much since after Aug. 11., and pivot at around $8,800. The copper market is still waiting for price direction from the financial markets. Without that, it'll be hard to see a breakthrough from this range," said Standard Chartered Bank analyst Judy Zhu. LME copper has been trading within a range of $8,700 and $9,019.25 since Aug. 12. Recent U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) traders commitment reports showed that speculators are adopting a balanced strategy on copper futures, Zhu added. Meanwhile, some good news came out of the United States with new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rising in July, offering hope the ailing economy could dodge a second recession even though a gauge of business spending fell. A sweeping U.S. budget deal has brightened the country's fiscal outlook but its gains could evaporate if Congress extends tax breaks in coming years, nonpartisan congressional forecasters said on Wednesday Looking forward, market players are divided on copper's longer term outlook. The world's top copper miner, Chile's Codelco , said on Wednesday it expects the price of copper to remain "relatively high" in the medium and long term. But the price of the metal will likely be volatile until the end of the year on fears the global economy is sliding back into recession, CEO Diego Hernandez said in Lima. Citigroup believed that copper was "unlikely to set fresh highs over the next year". "We believe copper will trade in a $7,500-$9,250 tonne range over the next year, experiencing bouts of weakness as sovereign debt concerns flare and signs emerge of an economic slowdown," it said in a note on Thursday. "Macros are already short. Chinese consumers will (continue to) take advantage of these bouts of weakness to replenish stocks." Base metals prices at 0420 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 8885.00 10.00 +0.11 -7.45 SHFE CU FUT NOV1 66750 280 +0.42 -7.10 LME Alum 2365.00 1.00 +0.04 -4.25 SHFE AL FUT NOV1 17285 10 +0.06 2.64 HG COPPER SEP1 401.20 0.25 +0.35 -9.63 LME Zinc 2199.50 22.00 +1.01 -10.37 SHFE ZN FUT NOV1 17030 120 +0.71 -12.55 LME Nickel 21000.00 175.00 +0.84 -15.15 LME Lead 2358.25 10.25 +0.44 -7.52 SHFE PB FUT 16745 55 +0.33 -8.75 LME Tin 23300.00 50.00 +0.22 -13.38 LME/Shanghai arb -311 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 Himani Sarkar)

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