LME metals fell across the board on Tuesday after the four-day Easter weekend, partially giving up recent gains, as traders wary of China's credit tightening trimmed risk exposure ahead of a Fed interest rate meeting and US GDP data due this week. Concerns lingered over unreported stocks in Shanghai, seen at more than half a million tonnes.
This offset a fall in the Shanghai Futures Exchange copper inventories, which dropped 5.8 percent last week to 139,076 tonnes, their lowest since mid-February. The most active Shanghai copper contract, July, fell 1.2 percent to 69,900 yuan.