METALS-Copper drops below $9,000, extending declines as the dollar rallies

(Updates prices) Nov 14 (Reuters) - London copper prices fell below $9,000 for the first time in more than two months on Thursday, extending their decline as the dollar firmed and investors weighed the prospects of demand from top consumer China. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 fell 1.6% to $8,903 per metric ton by 0710 GMT, its lowest since Sept. 5. The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SCFcv1 closed 2% down at 73,170 yuan ($10,102.87) a ton, hitting its lowest since Sept. 12. The dollar, steered by Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, has scaled a one-year high, which makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for other currency holders. USD/ Trump has vowed to adopt blanket 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods as part of his "America First" trade measures. That can impact copper demand through two channels - by weakening Chinese economic activity and likely causing yuan depreciation, said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com. Investors have also been disappointed by the scale of China's recent stimulus measures to reboot its lacklustre economy. China's property market is one of the largest consumers of base metals. Citi analysts expect prices to remain at $8,500-$9,000 into the year end. "We think elevated net investor positioning length in copper and other base metals is vulnerable to a further unwind by the year-end in reaction to heightened uncertainty around metal demand prospects next year," they said in a note. LME aluminium CMAL3 fell 1% to $2,506.5 a ton, nickel CMNI3 was flat at $15,735, zinc CMZN3 decreased 2.8% to $2,899, lead CMPB3 lost 1.2% to $1,984 and tin CMSN3 fell 1.8% to $29,125. SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 dipped 1.3% to 20,560 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 declined 0.8% to 125,140 yuan, lead SPBcv1 dropped 1.5% to 16,905 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 slipped 0.9% to 24,465 yuan, while tin SSNcv1 slumped 3% to 242,240 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Savio D'Souza) (([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 ))