NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Copper broke below $2.00 a lb in New York futures trade Tuesday for the first time since December 2005 as the dollar rallied and investors feared the global slowdown was spreading to China, the world's leading consumer of the red metal. NOTE: For detailed report, click on [MET/L] * Copper for December delivery HGZ8 hit an early session trough at $199.20 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division and by 10:33 a.m. EDT (1433 GMT) was down 6.25 cents, or 2.95 percent, at $2.0540. * Spot October HGV8 was down 10.40 cents at $2.0150. * COMEX estimated futures volume at 8,651 lots by 10 a.m. * COMEX copper's early weakness mirrors overnight losses in Shanghai market, where prices hit their downside limit amid concerns a Chinese economic slowdown would weaken the world's strongest pillar of commodity demand growth. * Chinese demand destruction fears reinforced after data on Monday showed the country's economic growth rate slowed to 9.0 percent in the third quarter from 10.1 percent in the second quarter, and factory output sank to a six-year low. [ID:nPEK312415] * Copper price action a reflection of real concerns over economic prospects in China - Steve Platt, futures analyst with Archer Financial Services in Chicago. * "Growth in that economy is going to be below expectations, and that seems to be putting the pressure on the copper market." - Platt. * Moody's Investors Service changed its Industry Sector Outlook for the global base metals industry to negative from stable on Tuesday. [ID:nWNA7183] * In currencies, the dollar surged to a 1-1/2 year peak against a basket of currencies, making dollar-denominated copper less attractive to non-U.S. investors. * Against the dollar, the euro dropped to its lowest level since March 2007 at $1.3154, according to Reuters data. It was last down 0.9 percent at $1.3222 . * London Metal Exchange (LME) copper warehouse stocks dropped by 6,500 tonnes to 205,900 tonnes -- still nearly 90 percent above the lows for this year in May. * COMEX copper stocks were off 242 short tons at 7,923 short tons as of Monday. * World refined copper consumption exceeded production by 54,000 tonnes between January and July this year, versus a deficit of 89,000 tonnes in the corresponding year-ago period - the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) [ID:nN20529137] * LME copper for three months delivery MCU3 was last quoted down $165 at $4,555 a tonne from $4,720 at the close on Monday and compared with a session low of $4,430, its lowest price point since January 2006. (Reporting by Chris Kelly; editing by Jim Marshall)

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