Aug 20 (Reuters) - London copper dipped on Thursday, retreating from an over two-year high hit in the previous session, as a stronger U.S. dollar made metals less attractive to holders of other currencies.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange declined 1% to $6,621 a tonne by 0145 GMT. The contract hit its highest since June 2018 at $6,707 a tonne on Wednesday.

The dollar rose after minutes from last month's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting gave few clues about whether an even more dovish shift in its policy framework is possible in the autumn, disappointing some dollar bears.

LME metals are priced in the greenback.

The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.4% to 52,170 yuan ($7,533.25) a tonne, tracking overnight gains in London.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Australia-based copper miner MMG Ltd said on Wednesday its half-yearly loss nearly doubled, while Australian miner South32 Ltd reported an 80.5% slump in full-year underlying profit.

* LME nickel dropped 1.2% to $14,550 a tonne, lead fell 1.2% to $1,988.50 a tonne and in Shanghai, nickel declined 1.1% to 115,400 yuan a tonne while aluminium advanced 1% to 14,700 yuan a tonne.

* China is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady for the fourth month in a row at its August fixing on Thursday as the economy continues to recover from the coronavirus crisis, a Reuters survey showed.

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MARKETS NEWS

* Asian equities were set to follow Wall Street's late session retreat after the Federal Reserve warned the U.S. economy faced a highly uncertain path to recovery from the coronavirus-induced downturn.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1230 US Initial Jobless Claims Weekly

1230 US Philly Fed Business Indx Aug

($1 = 6.9253 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Aditya Soni)