* Available LME copper stocks at lowest since July 2005
* Dollar hits three-week low, underpins copper (Recasts, adds closing prices)By Maytaal AngelLONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Copper steadied on Tuesday as aweak dollar and dwindlingstocks lent support, with investorsalso still cheering signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks.The latest London Metal Exchange data showed that available,or "on-warrant", copper stocks have slipped to only 29,775tonnes - their lowest level since July 2005. The dollar, meanwhile, sank to a three-week low afterFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested he was
unlikely to raise interest rates anytime soon.
A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced metals cheaper fornon-U.S. investors. "The market was focused on the dollar, Chinese data and the(U.S.-China) trade deal - and on all three, people have become abit more confident," said Michael Widmer, analyst at Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynch.He added that with copper mine supply tight, disruptionsescalating and demand set to hold up, he is forecasting a smalldeficit this year and an average third-quarter price of $6,750 atonne.
* COPPER PRICE: Three-month copper on the London MetalExchange ended 0.2 percent up at $6,494 a tonne, havinghit its highest since July 4 at $6,540 a tonne on Monday.
* TRADE: U.S. President Donald Trump last weekend deferredplans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, citing progress intalks with Beijing.
* POSITIONS: LME data showed one entity holds more than 90percent of copper cash contracts and warrants . Thishas pushed cash copper to a premium of $44.50 against thethree-month price.
* TECHNICALS: LME copper could break resistance at$6,525 a tonne and rise to $6,662 in a week, as suggested by itswave pattern and a projection analysis.
* CHINA DATA: Factory activity in China is expected to havecontracted for the third month in a row in February, a Reuterspoll showed.
* ZINC STOCKS: Zinc ended 0.8 percent up at $2,740 atonne, having hit its highest since early February. LME zincstocks fell by 8,925 tonnes to 69,475 tonnes, the lowest sinceOctober 2007, data showed.
* ZINC DEMAND: Deliverable stockpiles at the LME are closeto only a day's worth of demand and rebuilding holdings couldrequire a full-blown global recession, according to ICBCStandard Bank.
* OTHER METALS: Aluminium closed 0.2 percent up at$1,911 a tonne, lead gained 0.3 percent to $2,092.50,tin was down 0.6 percent at $21,600 and nickel ended with a 0.1 percent decline at $12,960.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Tom DalyEditing by Edmund Blair and David Goodman)