Recasts, adds analyst comment and London dateline

By Pratima Desai

LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) -Copper prices were pressured by a stronger dollar on Monday, but hopes for improving demand in top consumer China provided support ahead of a briefing on the country's policies to promote economic growth.

Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.2% at $9,921 a metric ton by 0948 GMT.

A stronger U.S. currency makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for holders of other currencies, which could subdue demand. However, industrial metals overall have been boosted by China's announcement last month of its biggest economic stimulus since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five officials from China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will brief reporters on Tuesday.

"They want to show they are serious about stimulus," said Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading.

"Demand was chugging along anyway at a moderate pace and the supply side on base metals is generally tight, with nickel a notable exception.".

Indicating stronger copper demand, stocks in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange are down nearly 60% since early June at 141,625 tons CU-STX-SGH. Stocks in LME-approved warehouses have been declining since hitting their highest since 2019 in August.

Raising doubts over the strength of copper demand is the deep discount for cash copper over the three-month contract. The discount CMCU0-3 stands at about $150 a ton, down from a record high above $160 in July.

Elsewhere, nickel was up 0.7% at $18,115 a ton, supported by short-covering and concern over disruptions at Ambatovy's operations in Madagascar, traders said.

Ambatovy produced about 8,000 metric tons of nickel during the April-June quarter, its major shareholder Sumitomo Corp 8053.T said in July. It expects annual production of 35,000 tons for the year to March 31.

A prolonged disruption could tighten supplies and narrow expected surpluses.

In other metals, aluminium CMAL3 was up 0.1% at $2,656 a ton, zinc CMZN3 gained 0.3% to $3,175, lead CMPB3 rose 0.5% to $2,159 and tin CMSN3 advanced 0.6% to $34,000.

Reporting by Pratima Desai
Editing by David Goodman

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