LONDON, May 25 -- Industrial metals fell on Tuesday, with copper falling more than 2 percent due to a stronger dollar and as investors sold-off riskier assets amid persistent debt problems in the euro zone.

European shares started the session with sharp falls, tracking losses on Wall Street and Asian markets on fears that Europe's sovereign debt problems could derail economic recover in the region.

"Euro zone worries do not seem to going away," an LME trader said. "We've seen the Dow falling overnight and this morning European shares are down, metals are just tracking all those."

PRICES

* Three-months copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was $6,765 a tonne by 0735 GMT from Monday's close of $6,910 a tonne. The metal, used in construction and wiring, touched $6,742 a tonne on Tuesday.

* Three-month aluminium CMAL3 eased to $2,030 a tonne from $2,085.

DATA/EVENTS

* U.S. May consumer confidence due at 1400 GMT

* U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's manufacturing index for May due at 1400 GMT.

* Italy May consumer confidence due at 0730 GMT.

* Euro zone March industrial new orders due at 0900 GMT.

* Britain's Q1 GDP 2nd release due at 0830 GMT.

* BRUSSELS - ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny takes part at Brussels Economic Forum.

* LONDON - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard on "The Road to Economic Recovery Following the Financial Crisis" before the Distinguished Speakers Seminar - 1515 GMT

* MUMBAI - Metal Bulletin's 6th Indian Steel Conference (to May 26)

MARKET NEWS

* The euro slid as concerns about broader contagion in the banking sector from the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone drove investors to sell the single currency.

* Asian stocks fell to multi-month lows. Japan's Nikkei average .N225 fell 2.4 percent, hitting its lowest level in more than five months.

MSCI's broadest measure of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 2.9 percent to its lowest in eight months. Exporters exposed to the European market were heavy losers.

* U.S. crude CLc1 fell more than $2 towards $68 on Tuesday on growing concern that Europe's debt crisis would derail the global economic recovery, prompting investors to sell riskier assets in a flight to dollar safety.

* European shares fell sharply on Tuesday, on worries that the euro zone debt crisis could undermine global growth, while heightened geopolitical tensions on the Korean peninsula also weighed on sentiment.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Europe's fumbling response to Greece's debt crisis and deficits in other euro zone countries has unnerved markets over the past six weeks, mostly benefiting gold as more funds were parked in bullion, most recently after the Spanish central bank's takeover of a small lender at the weekend.

* Jinchuan Group Ltd, China's dominant nickel producer, has shut down a key nickel furnace in Gansu province for 140 days from Tuesday for repairs, the company said in a statement on its website.

* Southern Copper (SCCO.N: Quote) Chief Executive Oscar Gonzalez said on Monday the company sees construction of a desalination plant for its $1 billion Tia Maria copper project in Peru as a "viable option".

* Members of the biggest trade union at South African logistics group Transnet ended a strike on Monday, but the stoppage hitting ports and railways dragged on after a smaller union rejected a revised pay deal.

* Japanese shipments of aluminium products rose 28.7 percent in April from a year earlier to 177,195 tonnes, industry data showed on Tuesday. It marked the fifth month in a row of year-on-year climbs.

TECHNICALS

* Copper support at $6,690, resistance $7,000 and 14-day RSI at 67.9.

* Aluminium support at $1,950, resistance at $2,070 and 14-day RSI 67.6.