* Copper up 0.7 pct on LME, 1.1 pct on ShFE * U.S. July consumer spending growth at 5-month highs * Greek equities jump after merger of two major banks * Strike threat looms at Grasberg copper mine * Coming Up: U.S. home price index, Jun; 1300 GMT (Updates prices, adds quotes and details) By Carrie Ho SHANGHAI, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Copper rose on Tuesday, supported by encouraging U.S. consumer data and a bank merger in Greece that offered investors some good news from the euro zone, while a strike threat at the world's third largest copper mine underpinned sentiment. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7 percent to $9,136 a tonne by 0405 GMT. The LME was shut for a bank holiday on Monday. LME copper had closed 0.5 percent higher in its previous session on Friday. The most-active November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFc3 lifted 1.1 percent to 68,380 yuan per tonne, after rising 0.3 percent on Monday. "The U.S. consumer data, Greek bank merger, and the positive stock market reactions afterwards are supportive of copper prices but this boost is only short-term," said Jinrui Futures analyst Zhao Kai. "Copper is trading within a wider range, with 68,500 yuan being the key resistance test for Shanghai copper, and $9,200 for LME copper. If they don't surge beyond this, there will be downside risks in the longer term." U.S. consumer spending rose at its fastest pace in five months in July, a further sign the economy is not falling back into recession, although manufacturing activity in Texas almost stalled this month. Stocks rallied on Monday along with oil after a merger between two major banks in Greece gave investors a rare bit of encouraging news out of Europe. The European Central Bank cut bond purchases last week more sharply than expected, to 6.651 billion euros, further scaling back its intervention after its renewed foray into debt markets helped stabilise Italian and Spanish yields. Workers at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world's third largest copper mine, plan to strike after talks with the company failed to resolve a pay dispute, a move that could tighten global copper supplies and lift prices. Safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc stayed under pressure in Asia on Tuesday, following a solid performance in riskier assets overnight that drove commodity currencies sharply higher. In industry news, Japan's refined copper exports fell 26 percent in July from a year earlier to 33,254 tonnes, down for a tenth straight month, but the pace slowed from June's drop of 39 percent, Ministry of Finance data showed on Tuesday. Base metals prices at 0405 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 9136.00 61.00 +0.67 -4.83 SHFE CU FUT NOV1 68380 770 +1.14 -4.83 LME Alum 2397.25 19.25 +0.81 -2.95 SHFE AL FUT NOV1 17455 85 +0.49 3.65 HG COPPER SEP1 412.60 3.70 +0.90 -7.06 LME Zinc 2265.50 19.50 +0.87 -7.68 SHFE ZN FUT NOV1 17360 235 +1.37 -10.86 LME Nickel 21763.00 313.00 +1.46 -12.07 LME Lead 2485.00 0.00 +0.00 -2.55 SHFE PB FUT 16965 105 +0.62 -7.55 LME Tin 24050.00 245.00 +1.03 -10.59 LME/Shanghai arb -181 Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month

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