By Rujun Shen and Jacqueline Wong SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai copper fell nearly 1 percent on Friday, as rising stocks continued to add to concerns over the demand outlook, and a rebound in the U.S. dollar pressured prices. The U.S. dollar clung to gains in Asia on Friday, following a broad rally in technical trading after the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless insurance fell to the lowest level since January. "It's all about the dollar, and there's not much else to talk about," said a Shanghai-based trader, who expected prices to stay rangebound above $6,400. Shanghai's benchmark third-month copper futures contract fell 0.7 percent to 50,700 yuan a tonne by 0226 GMT, on track for a slight rise of 0.2 percent from a week earlier. The most-active contract for February delivery fell 0.8 percent to 50,850 yuan a tonne. The three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange shed $8 to $6,495 a tonne, on course for a weekly gain of 0.2 percent. LME copper stocks climbed for the eighth straight session on Thursday, rising 4,800 tonnes to 402,125 tonnes, the highest since late April, adding to worries about demand. Traders and analysts expected Shanghai's copper stocks to keep rising in the short term, though their ascent might slow. "With October's imports decreasing, the supply of imported copper may fall as well, resulting in a slower climb in Shanghai's copper stocks," said the Shanghai-based trader. The Shanghai Futures Exchange is scheduled to release weekly warehouse stocks data after the market closes. Copper stocks rose to 104,275 tonnes last week, their highest level in 5-½ years. "Copper prices are likely to stay in the consolidation phase, with external factors, such as oil and gold, playing key roles," said Wang Zhouyi, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures. As China's October copper imports fell on the month, copper demand in Europe and the United States has yet to pick up, despite the improving global economy, said Richard Adkerson, chief executive of the world's second biggest copper producer, Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold. But supporting the sentiment, operational disruptions threaten copper supply. Workers at Chile's Spence copper mine threatened to invade installations and block roads after a month-long strike, while a strike in Zambia's Konkola Copper Mines continued. LME aluminium shed $3 to $1,945 a tonne, and Shanghai aluminium edged down 0.3 percent to 15,110 yuan. China's privately held stocks of primary aluminium may have increased more than 40 percent from August to about a million tonnes, following high imports and increased production, traders and smelter sources said on Thursday. Nickel, the worst performer in the metal complex, moved up 0.3 percent to $16,245 a tonne in London, recovering from a $16,000 level hit in the previous session, its lowest since late July. Nickel has now fallen for three weeks straight, and is down 14.5 percent in that period, its worst three week run since February.

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