METALS-Copper, lead, zinc steady ahead of U.S. payrolls

* Market braces for U.S. non-farm payrolls report

* Zinc hits 13-1/2 month high

* Lead hits 16-month high on supply worries

(Adds comment/details, changes dateline from SHANGHAI)

LONDON, Sept 4 - Copper steadied on Friday while zinc and lead came off multi-month peaks as traders weighed recovery signals such as stronger equities against worries that U.S. employers are still shedding jobs.

News that shut-down lead smelters in China might reopen next month -- earlier than expected -- weighed on prices.

Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at $6,300 a tonne in official rings from a close of $6,255 on Thursday. Prices of the metal used in power and construction are down more than 2 percent this week, snapping seven weeks of gains.

Players were awaiting a key U.S. August non-farm payrolls report due at 1230 GMT that was expected to shed more light on the outlook for the global economy and metals demand.

"Sentiment is cautiously optimistic. If you focus on China there are still some positives .... and stronger equities are clearly supportive," said David Wilson, director of metals research at Societe Generale.

But he added: "There's some concern about payrolls, there's lots of talk saying employment will lag the rally."

A Reuters survey forecast 225,000 jobs were lost in August compared with a loss of 247,000 jobs in July.

Commodities have been tracing equities for much of this year, looking to company performance to signal a better demand outlook for raw materials.

On Thursday, U.S. stock markets ended higher after stronger-than-expected retail sales data. The gains snapped a four-day losing streak that weighed on metals.

Copper prices have more than doubled in the year to date, mainly due to record imports from China, the world's biggest copper consumer, strong speculative interest and macro-economic data signalling a global recovery from recession.

LEAD, ZINC SURGE

Zinc, which has been trailing other metals recently, soared to a 13-1/2 month peak on the back of surging lead price and fears China might close down zinc smelters next. "The Chinese government is aiming to close down older, more polluting production of all metals, people are beginning to wonder whether we'll start to see zinc smelter closures," said Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays Capital.

Zinc is produced alongside lead, so if a company is forced to close its lead operations, profitability might be hit and zinc output might have to be closed also.

Zinc traded at $1,932.50 a tonne from $1,893, having earlier hit $1,989.75, its highest since mid-July last year. Sister-metal lead, produced as a by-product of zinc, traded at $2,260 from $2,280, having earlier touched $2,387, its highest since early May last year.

Lead is on course for a gain of more than 30 percent over the last two weeks, with supply fears dominating after the Chinese authorities, spooked by recent lead poisoning incidents, shut down polluting smelters.

For a column on lead pollution from Andy Home click on: Aluminium traded at $1,845 a tonne against $1,852 amid news some Japanese buyers have agreed to pay a premium of $115 per tonne for primary aluminium ingots to be supplied in October-December, up more than 50 percent from the third quarter.

Among other industrial metals, tin traded at $14,400 from $14,450 while nickel traded at $18,055 from $18,200. Metal Prices at 1216 GMT Metal Last Change Percent Move End 2008 Ytd Percent

move COMEX Cu 284.60 0.25 +0.09 139.50 104.01 LME Alum 1840.00 -12.00 -0.65 1535.00 19.87 LME Cu 6272.00 17.00 +0.27 3060.00 104.97 LME Lead 2278.00 -2.00 -0.09 999.00 128.03 LME Nickel 17990.00 -210.00 -1.15 11700.00 53.76 LME Tin 14050.00 -400.00 -2.77 10700.00 31.31 LME Zinc 1938.00 45.00 +2.38 1208.00 60.43 SHFE Alu 15025.00 125.00 +0.84 11540.00 30.20 SHFE Cu* 49530.00 710.00 +1.45 23840.00 107.76 SHFE Zin 15685.00 575.00 +3.81 10120.00 54.99 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07