Copper edges higher as dollar sinks ahead of U.S. jobs data

Sept 3 (Reuters) - Industrial metals were mostly higher on Friday, with copper's advance putting it on track for a second straight weekly gain, as the dollar sank to its lowest in almost a month ahead of a crucial U.S. jobs report.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.6% at $9,433.50 a tonne by 0330 GMT, while the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1% to 69,500 yuan ($10,760.35) a tonne.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six peers, slipped 0.04% to 92.193 after earlier touching 92.189 for the first time since Aug. 5, making greenback-priced metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

* Activity in top metals consumer China's services sector slumped into sharp contraction in August, a private survey showed, as restrictions to curb the Delta coronavirus variant threatened to derail the recovery in the world's second-biggest economy.

* LME aluminium advanced 0.3% to $2,702 a tonne, holding on to gains and hovering near a 10-year peak scaled on Thursday driven by fears of tight supply.

* In Shanghai, the most-traded October aluminium gained 0.5% to 21,300 yuan a tonne, having hit a 13-year high of 21,550 yuan earlier this week.

* LME nickel fell 0.3% to $19,410 a tonne, while Shanghai nickel dropped 0.9% to 145,690 yuan a tonne.

* First-half nickel output from the Philippines, the biggest supplier of nickel ore to top metals consumer China, rose 39% from a year earlier.

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MARKETS NEWS

* Asian shares held their gains as traders awaited U.S. employment data.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT, Aug)

0145 China Caixin Services PMI

0750 France Markit Serv, Comp PMIs

0755 Germany Markit Services PMI

0755 Germany Markit Comp Final PMI

0800 EU Markit Serv, Comp Final PMIs

0830 UK Reserve Assets Total

1230 US Non-Farm Payrolls

1230 US Unemployment Rate

1230 US Average Earnings YY

1345 US Markit Serv, Comp Final PMIs

1400 US ISM Non-Mfg PMI

($1 = 6.4589 yuan) (Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; editing by Uttaresh.V)