METALS-Copper heads for biggest weekly loss since Sept on demand concerns

(Adds details and updates prices, as of 0723 GMT) BEIJING, Feb 9 (Reuters) - London copper rebounded on Friday, but was set for its biggest weekly loss since last September on demand concerns from top consumer China and a firmer U.S. dollar. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 advanced 0.5% to $8,232 per metric ton by 0723 GMT. The contract has lost 3% so far in the week. The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) is closed on Friday and next week for the Lunar New Year holiday. The prolonged property sector crisis in China has weighed on sentiment given that construction is a major consumer of base metals. And data on Thursday showed the biggest fall since 2009 in its consumer prices, exacerbating near-term demand worries. The world's second-largest economy has also struggled with its plunging shares markets, triggering a series of rescue actions by Beijing. Pre-holiday restocking this year proved to be smaller than before, said China Futures analysts, expecting the property sector woes to result in lacklustre demand for copper tube and strip throughout the whole year. Bleak purchases and higher-than-expected January production of refined copper led to a rise in inventories. On-warrant copper stocks on SHFE CU-STX-SGH climbed for a seventh straight week to hit their highest level since May 2023. However, consumption of some other copper products like rod and foil will benefit from the power and renewable energy sectors, analysts said. Mine-side disruptions also cast risks over supply. Also weighing on the market was a steady dollar =USD after U.S. unemployment benefits data pointed to a resilient labour market, reinforcing the Federal Reserve's message that interest rates are unlikely to be cut in the near term. A stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy the greenback-priced commodity. Among other metals, LME aluminium CMAL3 dipped 0.1% to $2,219 per ton, lead CMPB3 shed 0.3% to $2,048, zinc CMZN3 slipped 0.1% to $2,324, while nickel CMNI3 was up 0.5% to $16,085. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips) (([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 ))