METALS-Copper hits seven-week low on stronger dollar, weak Chinese credit data

(Updates prices) By Julian Luk London, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Copper extended its losses on Monday as the dollar gained strength on growing anxiety about future U.S. trade policy under President-elect Donald Trump and demand prospects from top consumer China remained weak. The most-traded three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 was down 1.5% to $9,301 per metric ton at 1717 GMT. It earlier dipped to $9,300.5 for its lowest since Sept.18. Copper losses widened as the dollar index .DXY rose 0.5% to its highest level since early July to make greenback-priced metals more costly for holders of foreign currencies. The dollar rally continued on the prospect that Trump's proposed tariff and tax policies could keep U.S. interest rates high and hurt trading partners including China, which is already struggling to revive its economy. China has been tackling hidden debt and boosting stimulus measures, but those efforts have not fed through into more bullish sentiment. Sluggish corporate borrowing in China is the latest bearish signal about metals consumption, said Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading. The market "was choppy after the U.S. election last week and is now consolidating on fundamentals. U.S. policy may drive the investment sentiment, but the Chinese one drives demand." Smith added. Chinese banks extended 500 billion yuan ($69.51 billion) in new yuan loans last month, greatly lagging the forecast for 700 billion yuan. Total social financing, data which is closely watched by metals analysts as a key gauge of metals demand, also slowed to a record low of 7.8%. Another indicator of the Chinese economy's strength will be house price data due to be released on Friday. EM In terms of physical buying appetite, top copper miner Codelco has offered its 2025 copper output to Chinese clients at a premium of $89 per metric ton, Reuters reported. The copper premium, a fee on top of the LME price for Chinese importers, is a demand indicator. Spot premium for copper delivery to Shanghai is at $45, according to SMM. SMM-CUYP-CN Among other metals, aluminium prices dropped 1.5% to $2,582 per metric ton. Prices of the light metal soared to five-month highs last week on supply disruptions of bauxite and alumina, the raw materials to make primary aluminium. CMAL3 The most traded alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange(ShFE) for January expiry set fresh record highs on Monday. SAOF5 Zinc CMZN3 dropped 0.1% to $2,975.5, nickel CMNI3 decreased 1.8% to $16,110, lead CMPB3 was flat at $2,025 and tin CMSN3 dipped 1.4% to $31,220. Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX (Reporting by Julian Luk; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Shreya Biswas, Paul Simao and Vijay Kishore) (([email protected]))