* Euro at near 6-week low vs dollar * Cash tin prices at $9.60 premium against 3-mth prices * Coming up: U.S. durable goods for Sept at 1500 GMT By Harpreet Bhal LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Copper slipped for a third straight session on Monday due to a drop in the euro, while remaining within a range that has persisted for months on uncertainty about the outlook for demand from top consumer China. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was at $7,193 a tonne at 1117 GMT, down from a last bid of $7,240 on Friday. Putting pressure on metals prices was a drop in the euro to a near six-week low against the dollar as investors and speculators sold the single currency on mounting expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) may loosen policy in the near term. A strong dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. unit more expensive for holders of other currencies. The metal has traded in a $7,000-$7,420 range since early August partly due to uncertainty about real demand growth from China. "The increase in apparent demand in China in the last couple of months is partly restocking after the falls in prices during the summer months ," said Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis. "The fact that the market knows that there has been restocking is why prices are weak now. If it wasn't for the increase in Chinese stockpiles, copper prices would be a lot higher." Bonded stocks in China are climbing, while premiums have begun to soften. Citi estimated that bonded copper stocks have increased to around 450,000 tonnes from lows of 300,000 tonnes a month or two ago, while stocks have also built up in domestic non-exchange warehouses. Reflecting softer demand, premiums for Shanghai bonded copper stocks have slipped by $2.50 to $180-$205, according to China price provider Shmet. () Copper posted a fall of close to 1 percent in the month of October, its first monthly fall since June. Expectations for rising supply have also been hurting the outlook for copper prices. Analysts polled by Reuters this month expected the copper market to record a surplus of 182,000 tonnes this year, up from a previous forecast of 153,000 tonnes, and then balloon to 328,000 tonnes in 2014. "There's a lot of forces at play pushing down on copper prices, such as prospects for rising supply," analyst Tim Radford of Sydney-based advisor Rivkin said. Traders also were watching for signals on when the U.S. Federal Reserve may start to draw back its bond purchases. The Fed's bond purchases have buoyed commodities over the past few years by driving liquidity towards the asset group. "The third-quarter U.S GDP figures and the labour market report should give us further indications of the state of the U.S. economy and the next steps to be taken by the Fed when they are published on Thursday and Friday, respectively," Commerzbank analysts said in a note. Sentiment was also hit by worries about a crackdown on China's property market after the southern city of Shenzhen was reported to be raising minimum down payments on second home purchases in an attempt to stem rising prices. China's soaring property sector has been a major driver of copper imports. In other metals, signs of tightening supply in the tin market, which has been hampered by a drop in shipments from top exporter Indonesia since August, may not be sustained, analysts said, with volumes slowly improving. Cash prices for LME tin jumped higher than three-month prices, trading at a $9.60 premium on Monday from a $19 discount at the end of October. It jumped to a premium of $10 on Friday. Three-month prices were at $22,790 a tonne, from Friday's close of $22,775.

Source