UPDATE 9-Dollar drags down copper, aluminium at 31-mth low

* Dollar rally forces copper to a fresh 19-month trough

* Aluminium hits 31-month low on poor U.S. car data

* Metals hit multi-month lows in wider commodity sell-off
(Updates with New York closing copper prices, adds analyst comments)

By Pratima Desai and Anna Stablum

LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Copper hit a fresh 19-month low on Thursday as
the dollar rallied while aluminium fell to a 31-month trough on the
deteriorating health of the car industry.

Zinc fell to a near three-year low, nickel hit the lowest level since April
2006 and tin dropped to an eight-month trough together with sharp falls in
precious metals and oil CLc1.

Aluminium for delivery in three months MAL3 on the London Metal Exchange
ended at $2,301 a tonne, down 4.6 percent from $2,412 at the close on
Wednesday.

Earlier, the metal used intensively in vehicle manufacturing and in
packaging touched $2,300 -- the lowest level since March 2006.

London copper MCU3 closed down 5 percent at $5,850 from Wednesday's
$6,160 -- the lowest since early March 2007.

In New York, copper for December delivery HGZ8 shed 16.20 cents, or 5.8
percent, to end at $2.6275 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX
division.

"The dollar is making an amazing move at the moment -- it is one of the key
reasons why the market has turned around," said analyst Dan Smith at Standard
Chartered.

"We have also seen the data for U.S. car sales which is extremely negative
for aluminium."

In early trade, copper prices in London and New York rose over 1 percent
after the U.S. Senate approved a revised rescue plan for the financial
markets.

The market was awaiting the House of Representatives' vote on the $700
billion dollar package, which was expected by Friday. [ID:nN01519890]

Major commodity indexes suffered double-digit declines in percentage terms
last month, as the financial crisis triggered falls across the commodity
spectrum. [ID:nL2577403]

A firmer U.S. currency also weighed, making dollar-priced commodities more
expensive for holders of other currencies.

The dollar index .DXY touched a near 13-month high as the euro dropped on
comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet that
euro-zone inflation risks had diminished. [ID:nFAT004407]

SLUGGISH DEMAND PICTURE

Major automakers reported sharper-than-expected falls in U.S. sales for
September. [ID:nN01506733]

"Auto makers are major consumers of aluminium and the outlook for this
sector in the United States looks very bad. Inventories are rising and people
are focusing on oversupply," Barbara Lambrecht, analyst at Commerzbank, said.

Top automakers, including General Motors Corp (GM) (GM.N) and Ford (F.N),
warned of tough times at the Paris Auto Show. [ID:nL2503513]

In copper, concern about demand from the construction and power industries
has eroded confidence, as have expectations of slower demand growth in China,
the world's largest consumer.

"It still comes down to the direction of not only the U.S. economy, but the
global economy," said Steve Platt, futures analyst with Archer Financial
Services in Chicago. "The key question is has sentiment changed that emerging
markets are not going to be there to show the stronger demand trends?"

The second-largest copper consumer, the United States, will likely suffer a
sharp economic downturn, or even recession, judging by the impact of similar
banking crises around the globe over the past 30 years, the International
Monetary Fund said. [ID:nN01411798]

New orders at U.S. factories tumbled by an unexpectedly steep 4 percent in
August, the sharpest contraction since October 2006, a government report
showed. [ID:nN02266669]

Copper shrugged off a strike at Freeport-McMoRan's (FCX.N) Cerro Verde
(CVE.LM), the third-largest copper mine in Peru. [ID:nN02254388]

"Nobody cares that much about strikes at the moment," Standard Chartered's
Smith said.

Smith said the problem for copper was that prices were still historically
high, whereas other markets such as lead and zinc had limited downside with
prices nearing the cost of production.

Zinc MZN3 closed at a trough of $1,580 a tonne, the lowest level since
Nov. 2005 and down 5.3 percent against $1,668.

Nickel MNI3 closed at $15,300, the lowest level since April 2006 and down
$650, or 4.1 percent, since Wednesday.

Lead MPB3 dropped to a two-month low of $1,681 before closing at $1,700,
down $40 from Wednesday's close.

Tin MSN3 ended at $16,735, down 4.6 percent from Wednesday's close of
$17,550. Earlier it hit $16,450, the lowest point since February this year.
Metal Prices at 1845 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2007 Ytd Pct

move
LME Cu 5790.00 -370.00 -6.01 6670.00 -13.19
SHFE Cu* 53360.00 -80.00 -0.15 56880.00 -6.19
LME Alum 2292.25 -119.75 -4.96 2403.00 -4.61
SHFE Alu* 15620.00 110.00 +0.71 18180.00 -14.08
COMEX Cu** 269.85 -9.85 -3.52 303.50 -11.09
LME Zinc 1588.00 -80.00 -4.80 2370.00 -33.00
SHFE Zinc* 14240.00 -25.00 -0.18 18950.00 -24.85
LME Nick 15225.00 -725.00 -4.55 26350.00 -42.22
LME Lead 1691.00 -40.00 -2.82 2550.00 -33.69
LME Tin 16725.00 -825.00 -4.70 16400.00 1.98
** 1st contract month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contact month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
(Additional reporting by Chris Kelly in New York, editing by Matthew Lewis)