Shanghai copper closed lower on Monday, tracking losses in US futures, which dropped as much as 1.3 percent, ahead of possibly weak economic data from the United States and Britain this week. The most active Shanghai copper contract, July, fell 1 percent to 70,740 yuan by 0702 GMT. The London Metal Exchange was shut for the Easter Monday holiday.
"I expect London copper to open weaker tomorrow since Comex copper fell today. The whole atmosphere in the copper market is just very bearish with China's credit tightening and high stockpiles, and today's strengthening of the dollar," Ling added.
The dollar won a reprieve on Monday after last week's steep slide but traders said it could head for a test of its all-time low against a basket of currencies if the US Federal Reserve takes a cautious stance towards tightening later in the week. Tight credit conditions in China also played a part in the weak performances of base metals, Great Wall Futures analyst Li Rong said. Beijing adopted a more hawkish monetary policy in October, since when it has moved to reduce liquidity and raise interest rates 11 times in order to cool inflation.
Chinese inflation numbers are expected to rise no more than 5 percent in the second half of 2011, said Xu Lianzhong, a director at the National Development and Reform Commission.
Copper stocks monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 5.8 percent last week to 139,076 tonnes, their lowest since mid-February. However, concerns lingered over unreported stocks in the eastern Chinese city, seen at more than half a million tonnes. A strike by truck drivers in Shanghai had little impact on copper despite delaying customs clearance for some shipments.