The most-active January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 1.7 percent to 58,230 yuan ($9,157.68) per tonne on Monday, after jumping 2.1 percent on Friday. It is on track to post a rise of 6.3 percent, the biggest monthly gain since December.
Whether copper can sustain October's stellar monthly spike in November will depend on how confident Chinese consumers feel about stocking up on large inventories, CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou Jie said. "Investors are taking a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the slew of data this week. There wasn't particularly good news out of the euro zone this weekend, nor evidence of the anticipated monetary loosening in China yet," Zhou added.
"People are also waiting to see if there will be any policy changes with the personnel changes to top financial regulators here." China named new officials to three top financial regulatory posts on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency said, the first big step in a comprehensive leadership change that will culminate when its top political leaders retire.