* Copper inventories slide, giving strong boost to prices

* Investors eye Chinese Q1 GDP data due on Thursday

* Federal Reserve's Beige Book gives hints recession eases
(Updates with late prices, Beige Book report, reledes, updates
byline, dateline, comment)

By Carole Vaporean

NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - Copper prices rallied on
Wednesday after a huge drawdown in warehouse inventories, then
moved closer to 6-month highs after-hours when the Federal
Reserve's Beige Book showed signs of economic stability.

Copper for three-month delivery MCU3=LX on the London Metal
Exchange closed at $4,819, up from a close of $4,699 on Tuesday
when it struck a six-month high of $4,925.

In the New York afternoon, metal bulls pushed prices up to a
high at $4,852.50 a tonne following release of the Fed's U.S.
anecdotal economic evidence through April 6.

The Beige Book report hinted at economic bottoming or slower
declines in most U.S. regions, renewing hopes for a turnaround in
coming months, traders said.

"Five of 12 districts noted moderation in the pace of decline,
and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was
stabilizing at a low level," the report said. [nWEQ000880]

"With the Beige Book release it looks like the decline is
slowing if nothing else" - Matthew Zeman, head of trading with
LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago.

In New York, copper for May delivery HGK9 settled with a
steep 8.40 cent, or 3.97 percent, rise at $2.1990 a lb on the New
York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, but extended those
gains to $2.2340 after the Beige Book report.

May copper futures fell short of the $2.2350 a lb peak, dating
back to Oct. 15, reached on Tuesday.

The red metal, used in power and construction, has doubled in
value this year on expectations of a pick-up in demand.

Earlier, an unexpected 1.5 percent slide in March U.S.
industrial production was mostly overlooked by copper buyers,
whose perspective stretched out to next quarter.

Story: [ID:nN15463426] Table: [ID:nWEQ000877]

The decline in output illustrated how manufacturers cut orders
and inventories, which copper bulls bet meant demand for the metal
would pick up quickly once it turns.

But other analysts cautioned that the rally looked
overextended and warned of a corrective sell off to $2 a lb or
below on the COMEX.

"Copper's done fantastically well so far. There's room for a
pull-back and then further strength towards the end of the year,"
said Leon Westgate, an analyst at Standard Bank.

Pointing to a possible pick-up in demand, London Metal
Exchange copper warehouse stocks fell by 11,600 tonnes to 480,400
tonnes in Wednesday's data.

"The trend we've seen in inventories over the past couple of
weeks has been very supportive," said Gayle Berry, an analyst at
Barclays Capital. "Given there was another big draw on inventories
today and cancelled warrants are quite high -- that's offering
support."

Cancelled warrants fell to 57,525 tonnes from 66,700 tonnes on
Tuesday, but stood above 29,375 at the end of March.

The market widely believes the material earmarked for delivery
is bound for China, the world's biggest copper user.

Investors awaited Chinese GDP data for the first quarter due
at GMT 0200 on Thursday [ID:nPEK325406]. A domestic news portal
reported that China's annual GDP growth slipped to a record low in
the first quarter, but the quarter-on-quarter increase might point
to a recovery. [ID:nPEK270601]

ALUMINIUM STOCKS RISE

Aluminium, used in transport and packaging, closed at $1,515
from $1,510.

Aluminium cancelled warrants rose to 77,800 tonnes compared
with 66,700 tonnes on April 9. But many analysts say the increase
indicates material heading for Chinese stockpiles, rather than
economic activity <0#MCU-STX> <0#MAL-STX>.

Aluminium inventories continued to climb, rising 15,600 tonnes
to hit a new record of 3.66 million tonnes.

Among other industrial metals, steel making ingredient nickel
MNI3 closed at $12,500 -- its highest since early January --
from $11,850 the day before.

Zinc MZN3 closed at $1,520 a tonne -- matching a high from
mid-October -- versus $1,445 the day before.

Battery material lead MPB3 closed at $1,545 -- its highest
since early November -- from $1,485. It hit a day's high of $1,553
-- its loftiest since early November.

Tin MSN3 ended at $11,350 from $11,000. It earlier hit a
day's high of $11,430 -- its highest since early February.
Metal Prices at 1622 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2008 Ytd Pct

move
COMEX Cu 218.35 6.85 +3.24 139.50 56.52
LME Alum 1515.00 5.00 +0.33 1535.00 -1.30
LME Cu 4810.00 111.00 +2.36 3060.00 57.19
LME Lead 1530.00 45.00 +3.03 999.00 53.15
LME Nickel 12350.00 500.00 +4.22 11700.00 5.56
LME Tin 11375.00 475.00 +4.36 10700.00 6.31
LME Zinc 1510.00 65.00 +4.50 1208.00 25.00
SHFE Alu 12760.00 -155.00 -1.20 11540.00 10.57
SHFE Cu* 39360.00 780.00 +2.02 23840.00 65.10
SHFE Zin 13125.00 365.00 +2.86 10120.00 29.69
** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for
SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
(Additional reporting by Rebekah Curtis, Michael Taylor, Nick
Trevethan and Rujun Shen; Editing by Christian Wiessner)