METALS-Shanghai copper opens lower, China worries

SINGAPORE, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Shanghai copper opened lower on Thursday, chasing falls in London, which ended weaker after falling 1.8 percent from an intraday high. Western investors are worried that Chinese attempts to curb overcapacity in some sectors, including steel, cement and silicon will slow demand growth for base metals. [ID:nPEK157466] FUNDAMENTALS * Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange MCU3 rose $9 to $6,300 a tonne early on Thursday, having ended 0.3 percent lower in the previous session. * Shanghai third-month copper SCFc3 fell 0.44 percent to 49,810 yuan at 0100 GMT. * Data on Wednesday lent the bulls some support. U.S. durable goods orders rose in July and home sales hit their highest in 10 months. [ID:nN26259327] But that was tempered by a fall in a key business demand measure. [ID:nN26256375] * And a further slide in oil CLc1, which at $71.23 a barrel is down from around $75 last week, also weighed. * Aluminium MAL3 fell $3 to $1,865, as high levels of stocks cause some concern. LME inventories stand at 4.62 million tonnes <LME/STX1> and China's top producer, Aluminum Corp of China (CHALCO) (2600.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), said privately held stocks in the country totaled 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes. [ID:nHKG49899] * However,the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) said total aluminium smelter stocks excluding finished end-products fell to 2.279 million tonnes at the end of July versus a revised 2.333 million in June. IAI-INVENTORY<0#STOCKS-IAI>. * Lead MPB3 continued to hold the limelight, steady at $2,050 a tonnes, though off Wednesday's near-one-year high of $2,130 on worries that a pollution crackdown in China that has already closed at least 240,000 tonnes of capacity, may spread. MARKET NEWS * Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 was down 0.9 percent. [.T] * U.S. stocks closed little changed on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious despite solid reports on new home sales and durable goods orders. For the third consecutive day, equities bounced after favourable news, but the gains fizzled. [.N] * The dollar held onto broad gains on Thursday as investor fatigue in riskier assets like stocks and higher-yielding currencies set in, despite robust economic data from the U.S. and Europe. [USD/] Investors tend to buy the dollar and yen as safe havens or unwind trades in higher-yielding assets financed with the U.S. and Japanese currencies when recovery optimism fades. DATA EVENTS * The following data is expected on Thursday: ECON - UK Nationwide house price index for Aug (0600 GMT) - German GFK consumer sentiment index for Sept (0600 GMT) - Euro zone M3 money supply for July (0800 GMT) - UK CBI distributive trades for Aug (1000 GMT) - U.S. preliminary GDP for Q2 (1230 GMT) - U.S. advance Q2 corporate profits (1230 GMT) - Weekly U.S. jobless claims (1230 GMT) - UK GFK consumer confidence index for Aug (2301 GMT) RELATED NEWS > METALS-Copper ends off highs as data, China worries [nLQ24031] > Zambia to raise power supply to meet copper demand [nLQ712787] > Asarco fight nears end; decision seen by Aug. 31 [nN26140568] > Chalco: China privately holds up to 600 kT aluminiu[nHKG49899] > N. American aluminum shipments gain mo/mo in June [nN26220587] > Unwrought aluminium stocks 1.205 mln T in July -IAI[nLQ221977] > Revisions to base metal price forecasts [nLA340106] > Vale to resume some Sudbury mining, despite strike[nN26270524] > Greece orders Larco shutdown as stake sale advances [nLQ94305] PRICES Base metals prices at 0049 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2008 Pct chg 09 LME Cu 6300.00 9.00 +0.14 3060.00 105.88 LME Alum 1865.00 -3.00 -0.16 1535.00 21.50 COMEX Cu** 285.55 0.00 +0.00 139.50 104.70 LME Zinc 1835.00 -11.00 -0.60 1208.00 51.90 LME Nickel 19000.00 -75.00 -0.39 11700.00 62.39 LME Lead 2050.00 0.00 +0.00 999.00 105.21 LME Tin 13725.00 -100.00 -0.72 10700.00 28.27 (Reporting by Nick Trevethan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)