June 21 (Reuters) - Copper futures dropped on Friday on

a stronger dollar, although the London contract was poised for

its first weekly gain in five as physical demand picked up after

prices slumped to a two-month low.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was

down 0.5% at $9,811.50 per metric ton, as of 0349 GMT. Still,

the contract has gained 0.8% on a weekly basis, and was on track

to snap a fourth straight weekly loss.

The U.S. dollar pushed to a fresh eight-week top above 159

yen and clung close to a five-week peak to sterling, with the

Federal Reserve's patient approach to cutting interest rates

contrasting with more dovish stances elsewhere.

A firmer dollar makes greenback-priced metals more expensive

to holders of other currencies.

Earlier in the week, LME copper hit $9,551 a ton, the lowest

in two months, as persistently high stockpiles raised worries

that demand for the metal was weak.

The drop in copper prices, however, encouraged more physical

purchases this week, and in turn, provided a support around

$9,500-$9,600 a ton, brokers said.

The most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures

Exchange edged 0.1% higher to 79,540 yuan ($10,954.56)

a ton.

LME aluminium was nearly flat at $2,522.50 a ton,

nickel fell 0.3% to $13,730, zinc declined 0.3%

to $2,865, lead shed 0.5% to $2,205, and tin was

flat at $33,086.

SHFE aluminium eased 0.2% to 20,505 yuan a ton,

nickel dipped 0.2% to 134,900 yuan, lead

dropped 1.5% to 18,760 yuan while zinc rose 0.2% to

23,860 yuan and tin jumped 0.9% to 273,490 yuan.

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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0600 UK Retail Sales May

0645 France Business Climate Mfg, Overall June

0715 France HCOB Mfg, Services, Comp PMI June

0730 Germany HCOB Mfg, Services, Comp PMI June

0800 Euro zone HCOB Mfg, Services, Comp PMI June

0830 UK Flash Mfg, Services, Comp PMI June

1345 US S&P Global Mfg, Svs, Comp PMI June

1400 US Existing Home Sales May

1430 US EIA-Nat Gas Chg Bcf weekly

1430 US Nat Gas-EIA Implied Flow weekly

($1 = 7.2609 yuan)