Dollar rally drags US copper futures down at open

NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures fell early Thursday in sympathy with general losses in the broader commodity arena as a strengthening dollar continued to exert downward pressure on the complex.

NOTE: For detailed report, click on [MET/L]

* Copper for December delivery HGZ8 traded down 2.55 cents at $3.0885 a lb by 10:32 a.m. EDT (1432 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.

* The range was from $3.0580 to $3.1265.

* Spot September HGU8 shed 4.10 cents to $3.0825.

* COMEX estimated futures volume at 5,860 lots by 10 a.m.

* Dollar-denominated copper under early pressure from the U.S. currency's ongoing rally against the euro.

* The euro EUR= tumbled nearly 0.7 percent to $1.3891, its lowest level since September 2007.

* A weaker tone on Wall Street and further probes to the downside in crude oil prices were other factors seen dragging on industrial metal copper.

* The weakness in energies was seen leading the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index .CRB, a global commodities benchmark, to lower levels on Thursday.

* On the economic front, the U.S. monthly trade gap swelled to $62.2 billion, the largest since March 2007, from an upwardly revised estimate of $58.84 billion in June.

* "Against this less than inspiring backdrop, we suspect that the sellers will hold sway in most commodity markets over the short-term, with the surging dollar, falling energy prices, and a wobbly U.S. equity market, all being the primary downward catalysts." - MF Global analyst Edward Meir.

* On Wednesday, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX.N) cut its production outlook due to an incident at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia. [ID:nN10391951]

* Also, an earthquake in the northern mining region of Chile raised additional concerns about a supply short-fall, but no damage was reported.

* In industry news, output of copper and aluminium semi-finished products in Italy, Europe's second-biggest producer after Germany, will fall this year due to weak demand from key consumers. [ID:nLB25420]

* London Metal Exchange inventories rose 275 tonnes to 204,125 tonnes on Thursday, their highest level since March 2007.

* COMEX copper stocks were unchanged at 5,390 short tons on Wednesday.

* London Metal Exchange copper for three-months delivery MCU3 last traded at $6,880 a tonne, up $40 from Wednesday's kerb close. (Reporting by Chris Kelly, editing by Matthew Lewis)