London copper prices edged up 0.4 percent in light trade on Monday, with investors wary of placing big bets after a weekend of airstrikes by Western powers on Libya, tightening monetary policy in China and the Japan earthquake aftermath, Shanghai copper feel slightly. Shanghai's most active copper futures contract fell 0.5 percent to 71,480 yuan a tonne.
China's refined copper imports tumbled 35.6 percent in February from the previous month to a 27-month low because of holidays in the shortest month of the year and high stocks. In China, Vice Premier Li Keqiang said the nation would stay focused on stifling inflation even as global economic uncertainties multiplied. That came after Friday's move by the world's top commodity consumer to raise bank reserve ratio rules once more as part of Beijing's effort to tame price rises.