METALS-Strong dollar sparks copper sell-off to a more than two-week low

(Updates prices, adds analyst comment) By Pratima Desai LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Copper prices slipped to their lowest in more than two weeks on Monday as a stronger dollar triggered a sell-off despite signs of recovering growth in China's manufacturing sector, a major consumer of industrial metals. Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.3% at $8,985 a metric ton at 1705 GMT, having earlier touched $8,904 for its lowest since Nov. 14. A stronger U.S. currency makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for holders of other currencies, which could weigh on demand. This relationship is used by funds that buy and sell on signals from numerical models. "The dollar is significantly higher. Chinese manufacturing PMIs were moderately bullish, but they have been overlooked," said Dan Smith at Amalgamated Metal Trading (AMT). China's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months in November as new orders, including those from abroad, led to a solid rise in production, a private-sector survey showed on Monday. An official survey over the weekend also showed China's manufacturing activity grew modestly for a second consecutive month in November, suggesting a blitz of stimulus is finally trickling through to the economy. "We are not surprised by the manufacturing uptick. We suspect there has been a rush of orders to get material into the U.S. prior to Mr. Trump assuming office," said Marex consultant Edward Meir. Traders said an improvement in U.S. manufacturing was also a plus for industrial metals. Overall, commodity and financial markets are worrying about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's plans to impose import tariffs, which would damage growth prospects around the world. Elsewhere, the tin price CMSN3 fell 1.1% to $28,605 a ton. It has been pressured by expectations of rising shipments from Indonesia, a top producer of the soldering metal. "We haven't got the trade data yet, but it looks like Indonesia's tin export numbers for November will be up again," AMT's Smith said, adding that talk of a resumption of tin mining in Myanmar was also weighing on prices. Tin has lost 16% of its value over the past two months. In other metals, aluminium CMAL3 was flat at $2,594 a ton, zinc CMZN3 fell 1.1% to $3,068, lead CMPB3 was little changed at $2,071 and nickel CMNI3 ceded 1.3% to $15,700. (Reporting by Pratima Desai Editing by Kirsten Donovan and David Goodman) (([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 ))