The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up more than 1 percent at 60,530 yuan ($9,600) a tonne on Monday. "After a pretty positive start to the year, it's not surprising that there's been a lull, and definitely the focus is back on some of these issues like Greece, but ... there's a positive environment out there and risk on is continuing to grow," analyst Daniel Hynes of Citi said.
"The jobs data definitely helped - everyone is getting more confident about the US, it's really the European situation that they are divided over," he added. The physical market for copper in China, the world's top consumer of the metal, remained quiet on Monday, a trader based in Hong Kong said, as factories are only starting to reopen after the Lunar New Year holidays, this week. Signs in Chinese futures markets still pointed to slack spot market demand with the front month ShFE contract trading at a steep discount of 730 yuan to the most active April contract, compared with a 660 yuan discount on Friday.