MUMBAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Indian copper futures traded down on Tuesday as a firm dollar and concerns of waning demand from China and U.S weighed on sentiment, analysts said. At 3.27 p.m., the benchmark November copper MCCX8 on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) was down 1.01 percent at 235.8 rupees per kg. "The outlook for industrial metals is bearish and lack of demand is the main reason," said Debjyoti Chatterjee, associate vice-president, MAPE Admisi Commodities Pvt Ltd. Copper prices have fallen more than 25 percent in October due to the ongoing global financial crisis that raised concerns about slowing demand from the United States, the second largest consumer of the metal after China. A fall in China's annual GDP growth to 9 percent in the third quarter from 10.1 percent in the second quarter, led to demand fears and hampered sentiment. "Demand concerns from China had never really been wiped out and the slowing down of GDP has again reinforced it," said an analyst with Delhi-based brokerage. The dollar which held near a 16-month high against a basket of currencies on Tuesday also pressured prices down. A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities expensive for holders of other currencies and caps demand. Lead, mainly used in car batteries, fell more than 2 percent on Tuesday as the slowdown in the auto sector due to the financial meltdown impacted prices of the metal, analysts said. Continued...

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