Nov 23 (Reuters) - Nickel prices fell on Thursday, with the London contract hitting its lowest level in more than two-and-a-half years, as a lingering oversupply pressured any price rally.

Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange fell as much as 0.6% to $16,335 per metric ton, the lowest since April 2021, before rebounding slightly to $16,405 by 0349 GMT, still a 0.2% decline.

The most-traded December nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shed 3.2% to 127,790 yuan ($17,721.29) a ton. Earlier in the session, the contract dropped 4.2% to 126,440 yuan, the lowest since September 2022.

LME nickel has lost 45% and SHFE nickel has shed 37% year-to-date, the worst performers across the base metals complex on both exchanges.

The global nickel market had a surplus of 155,000 tons in the first nine months of this year, up from a surplus of 60,500 tons a year ago, data from the International Nickel Study Group showed.

A supply surge from Indonesia has outpaced demand, causing the surplus.

LME copper rose 0.3% to $8,382 a ton, aluminium advanced 0.4% to $2,226.50, zinc climbed 0.5% to $2,508, and lead increased 0.3% to $2,227.50.

A weaker dollar index helped make greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.

LME tin eased 0.1% to $24,645.

SHFE copper fell 0.3% to 67,960 yuan, aluminium declined 0.4% to 18,785 yuan, zinc shed 0.8% to 20,910 yuan, lead lost 1.5% to 16,550 yuan, and tin dropped 1.4% to 204,690 yuan.

For the top stories in metals and other news, click or

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0745 France Business Climate Mfg, Overall Nov

0815 France HCOB Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs Nov

0830 Germany HCOB Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs Nov

0900 EU HCOB Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs Nov

0930 UK Flash Comp, Mfg, Serv PMIs Nov

($1 = 7.2111 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Sonia Cheema)