(Updates with official prices, adds aluminium stocks) By Pratima Desai April 24 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell to their lowest in more than two weeks on Monday as the market focused on lacklustre demand in top consumer China while a softer dollar helped to cap losses. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) traded 0.2% down at $8,776 a tonne in official rings, having earlier touched $8,739 for its lowest since April 5. Hopes for stronger copper demand in China after the removal of COVID restrictions have proved forlorn so far, with activity in the manufacturing sector sector growing more slowly than expected. "China reopening euphoria has faded. This is not a surprise as we thought from the beginning that this recovery would be services driven," Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said, adding that an inventory overhang of manufactured goods was also weighing on demand. Weak demand in China can be seen in the Yangshan copper premium , which has more than halved to $23 a tonne since March 17. Elsewhere, traders are watching on the large holdings of warrants and cash contracts for LME lead , which has fuelled worries about near-term supplies and created a hefty premium for cash metal over the three-month contract. The premium hit $35.25 a tonne on Friday for its highest since early January. It was last at $31.75 a tonne. Three-month lead was down 1.3% at $2,131. In the aluminium market, the focus was on the recent cancellation of warrants to take delivery of 10,200 tonnes from LME-registered warehouses in Gwangyang, where there has been a build up of Russian metal. "We believe it is genuine demand," Marex said in a note. "Some of our Far East client base has been looking for warrants of late." Industrial metals found some support from the dollar, which has fallen on perceptions that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates less aggressively than previously expected. A weaker U.S. currency makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. In other metals, aluminium slipped 1% to $2,372.5 a tonne, zinc ceded 1.5% to $2,678, tin was little changed at $26,600 and nickel was down 1.3% at $24,150. (Reporting by Pratima Desai Editing by David Goodman) ((pratima.desai@thomsonreuters.com)) (( For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview COMEX copper futures All metals news All commodities news Foreign exchange rates SPEED GUIDES ))
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