"When you look at aluminium, nickel and zinc, they are trying to catch up with copper's record-breaking rally," said Zhou Jie, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures, adding that improved economic prospects have also boosted the demand outlook for industrial metals.

Premiums for physical aluminium hit record highs in Europe, despite large stockpile.

China raised reserves ratio requirements for banks to a record 19.5 percent on Friday, adding to an increasingly aggressive effort by Beijing to curb high inflation.

"These tightening moves will probably not be heavy blows to industrial metals each time, but the accumulative effect will make an impact in the long term," said Lin Yuhui, deputy general manager of Jinhui Futures.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.2 percent to $9,881.25 a tonne, after last week's one-percent loss.

Shanghai's most-active contract for May delivery gained one percent to 74,630 yuan a tonne.

The consolidation between $9,700 and $9,850 per tonne for LME copper could be an accumulation before another round of sharp falls, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

"Copper is likely to fluctuate around current levels for a while before making an upward move," said Lin.

"The market sentiment isn't particularly bullish, neither is it bearish. There is very little possibility for a sharp fall, that's for sure."

The steady ratcheting-up of monetary tightening has combined with the Lunar New Year holiday to weigh on China's factories in February, even as inflation has continued to accelerate, a survey showed on Monday.

Investors continued to watch the spreading unrest in the Middle East. Violent unrest against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi spread to the capital Tripoli on Sunday and his son vowed to fight until the "last man standing" after scores of protesters were killed in the east of the country.

LME zinc rose to a three-month high of $2,590 earlier in the day, and was trading at $2,565.

Shanghai zinc also hit a three-month high of 20,530 yuan a tonne, before easing to close at 20,420 yuan, up 2.4 percent.

Global zinc miners will seek to slash processing fees by up to a quarter this year, as fundamentals for the worst-performing base metal show no sign of tightening soon, analysts and traders said.