METALS-Weaker dollar propels copper to two-week peak

(Updates prices, adds comment) By Pratima Desai LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Copper prices climbed to two-week highs on Monday after the dollar fell on expectations of interest rate cuts in the United States and as the market awaited the outcome of the U.S. presidential election this week. Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was 1.1% higher at $9,679 a metric ton at 1700 GMT from an earlier session high of $9,723.50 a ton. The U.S. Federal Reserve is forecast to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its meeting on Nov. 6-7, according to analysts who expect further reductions over the coming months. This is pressuring the U.S. currency. When it falls, it makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for buyers holding other currencies and supports demand. Traders said much of copper's rise on Monday was because of buying by funds that trade on buy and sell signals from numerical models. Physical traders also said sentiment was positive and the focus was on the U.S. election. Polls show Kamala Harris and Donald Trump running neck and neck nationally and in the battleground states expected to decide the winner of the U.S. election, though the closeness of the contest means it could take days for a winner to emerge. Manufacturing activity in top consumer China swung back to growth in October as an expansion in new orders led to a pick-up in production growth, signalling improvement in the sector. Base metals markets are also hoping a meeting of China's top leaders over Nov. 4-8 will decide on stimulus to spur growth. "Increased fiscal spending in (China) will be highly welcomed," analysts at StoneX said. "However, details on the size and areas of implementation are still uncertain and have disappointed the market so far this year." Weighing on sentiment, however, the Yangshan premium SMM-CUYP-CN - a closely watched indicator of China's appetite for importing copper - was down 30% at $48 a ton since climbing close to $70 in early October. In other metals, aluminium CMAL3 gained 0.7% to $2,618 a ton, zinc CMZN3 fell 1.3% to $3,029, lead CMPB3 slipped 0.9% to $2,035 while tin CMSN3 advanced 1.1% to $32,090 and nickel CMNI3 added 0.8% to $16,070. (Reporting by Pratima Desai Editing by Barbara Lewis, David Goodman and Mohammed Safi Shamsi) (([email protected])) (( For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX ))