(Updates prices) Aug 5 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell on Thursday amid worries that spreading COVID-19 outbreaks would hit demand for base metals and a stronger dollar, which makes greenback-priced metals more expensive to other currency holders. The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 1.1% at 69,220 yuan a tonne. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was little changed at $9,463 a tonne at 0704 GMT. A resurgence in infections due to the highly transmissible Delta variant in some major economies — including top metals consumer China and the world’s largest economy the United States — sparked fears of weaker demand for metals. Meanwhile, the dollar was pushed higher by hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve that led markets to bring forward the likely timing of a U.S. policy tightening. “The sign of (copper) peaking early in the week was that the physical premiums in China were falling. Volumes are still weak, and consumers are not stepping in yet. I think for aluminium it is peaking out,” said a Singapore-based metals trader. China"s spot copper premium SMM-CU-PND was at a two-week low of 295 yuan a tonne as of July 29, SMM data showed. FUNDAMENTALS * LME aluminium rose 0.6% to $2,581 a tonne, lead fell 0.4% to $2,371 a tonne, and ShFE zinc edged up 0.2% to 22,090 yuan a tonne. * ShFE nickel dropped 0.5% to 142,580 yuan a tonne and ShFE lead shed 1.1% to 15,730 yuan a tonne. * The premium of LME cash lead over the three-month contract CMPB0-3 jumped to $60 a tonne, the largest premium since February 2020, indicating tightening nearby supplies as LME inventories MPBSTX-TOTAL fell to a two-year low of 59,250 tonnes. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Mark Potter)