MELBOURNE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - London copper held steady on...

MELBOURNE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - London copper held steady on Friday, while lead and zinc hovered near year-to-date highs ahead of a key U.S. jobs report later in the session that could dictate short-term direction in metals markets.

FUNDAMENTALS

• Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was little changed at $4,629.50 a tonne by 0118 GMT, after closing a tad higher in the previous session. Prices appear to be forming a floor above $4,600 a tonne, the nine-week low plumbed on Tuesday.
• London zinc CMZN3 and lead CMPB3 floated near 15 and 14-1/2 month highs hit the day before at $2,342.50 and $1,938 a tonne respectively.
• Shanghai Futures Exchange lead SPBcv1 rallied 2.7 percent to 14,555 yuan ($2,181.73) a tonne, building on technical momentum in the last session that saw prices strike their highest in two years. Lead has been pushed up by mine supply concerns in sister metal zinc and amid a crackdown on polluting plants in China.
• U.S. factory activity contracted in August for the first time in six months as new orders and production tumbled, but a low level of layoffs continued to point to a pickup in economic growth in the third quarter.
• Alcoa Inc and Alumina Ltd (AWC) have settled a dispute and agreed to reshape their joint venture, removing an obstacle to Alcoa's plan to split into two companies and making its Australian partner a more attractive takeover target.

• For the top stories in metals and other news, click [TOP/MTL] or [MET/L]

  MARKETS NEWS

• The potential for a strong U.S. non-farm payrolls number later in day - and with it an elevated chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike soon - kept Asian financial markets nervously marking time on Friday. [MKTS/GLOB]

  DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0900 Euro zone Producer prices Jul 1230 U.S. nonfarm payrolls Aug 1230 U.S. unemployment rate Aug 1230 U.S. international trade Jul 1345 U.S. ISM-New York index Aug 1400 U.S. factory orders Jul

  PRICES Three month LME copper CMCU3 Most active ShFE copper SCFcv1 Three month LME aluminium CMAL3 Most active ShFE aluminium SAFcv1 Three month LME zinc CMZN3 Most active ShFE zinc SZNcv1 Three month LME lead CMPB3 Most active ShFE lead SPBcv1 Three month LME nickel CMNI3 Most active ShFE nickel SNIcv1 Three month LME tin CMSN3 Most active ShFE tin SSNcv1

($1 = 6.6713 Chinese yuan renminbi)