METALS-Copper eases tracking dollar strength, weak China demand

NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell slightly on Tuesday tracking a stronger U.S. dollar and lacklustre demand in top metals consumer China. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 was down 0.2% to $9,313 per metric ton by 0222 GMT. It had dipped to $9,300.5, the lowest since Sept.18, in the previous session. The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SCFcv1 fell 0.9% at 75,880 yuan ($10,503.00) a ton. The U.S. dollar traded close to a four-month peak versus major peers on Tuesday, while bitcoin extended its record rally as investors continued to pile into trades seen as benefiting from the incoming Donald Trump administration. USD/ A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced metals more costly for holders of foreign currencies. "With little focus being paid to the effectiveness of subsequent support from China, we anticipate that the dollar will remain the primary factor influencing metal prices this week," Sucden Financial said in a note. Investors have also been worried about threats made by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to impose stiff tariffs on China, which could dampen metals demand. China copper smelting and refinery operating rate dropped to 81.18% in October from the peak in July at 88.41%, said a note from broker Marex. Upcoming indicator of the Chinese economy's strength will be house price data due this Friday. Among other metals, LME aluminium CMAL3 fell 0.6% to $2,570.5 a ton, nickel CMNI3 eased 0.3% to $16,060, zinc CMZN3 declined 0.2% to $2,973, while lead CMPB3 firmed up 0.4% to $2,029 and tin CMSN3 fell 0.6% to $31,055. SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 fell 1.6% to 21,110 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 eased 0.7% to 127,610 yuan, lead SPBcv1 climbed 0.5% to 16,950 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 edged up 0.04% at 24,920 yuan while tin SSNcv1 fell 1.2% to 257,220 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L ($1 = 7.2246 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Neha Arora; Editing by Janane Venkatraman) (([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 ))