MUMBAI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - India copper futures extended losses on Wednesday afternoon by more than 2 percent weighed by a strong dollar overseas and on demand fears from China after expectations of monetary tightening, analysts said. The most-active February copper contract MCCG0 was trading 2.03 percent lower at 338.20 rupees per kg at 3:55 p.m., falling from an intra-day high of 345.1 rupees. China is the largest consumer of the industrial metal. The dollar rose and the yen gained broadly as investors shied away from riskier assets on concerns about China tightening lending and U.S. monetary and political wrangling. [USD/] A strong dollar makes commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies. Industrial metals markets also came under pressure after China's largest bank, ICBC, said it has stopped rolling over some loans to slow credit growth after a surge at the start of the year. "The recovering dollar is pressuring prices, selling could be initiated on rise to 342/343 rupees with a target of 330, maintaining a stop loss of 347 rupees," said Pranav Mer, an analyst with India Infoline in Mumbai. Copper may trade in the range of 332-345 rupees for the rest of the week, said Tejas Seth, senior analyst with SMC Global. In other base metals, January zinc MZIF0 was trading 2.34 percent lower at 104.30 rupees per kg, while January lead MLDF0 was trading 2.21 percent lower at 99.65 rupees, recovering from a contract low of 98.3 rupees per kg. Nickel January MNKF0 was 1.74 percent lower at 823.90 rupees per kg. Nickel should be sold at 836, with a target of 800 and a stop loss of above 850, said India Infoline's Mer. (Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Harish Nambiar)

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