Copper prices ended lower on Monday in response to doubts over whether a US-China trade deal can be reached soon, possibly prolonging pressure on global growth and metals demand.
A CNBC report said Beijing was pessimistic about reaching a trade deal with Washington because US President Donald Trump was reluctant to roll back some tariffs.
"A lot of the optimism over the last few weeks regarding a quick end to the trade war seems to have petered out," said Capital Economics analyst Keiran Clancy.
"We are still probably a long way off from a comprehensive trade deal and irrespective of that global growth is going to remain muted for the rest of the year and keep a lid on metals prices."
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) ended 0.3% lower at $5,830 a tonne. The metal, used in power and construction, shed 1.3% last week.
Helping to support prices was China's move to unexpectedly cut its lending rate as growth in the world's second-largest economy was cooled by the protracted trade war.
China accounts for nearly half of global copper consumption estimated at 24 million tonnes this year.
The World Trade Organization said growth in global goods trade is expected to remain "below trend" in the fourth quarter amid tensions and rising tariffs in key sectors.
Sources told Reuters that the Trump administration was set to issue a 90-day extension of a licence on Monday allowing US companies to continue doing business with China's Huawei Technologies.
Foreign direct investment in China rose 6.6% from a year earlier to 752.41 billion yuan ($107.58 billion) in the first 10 months of the year and is expected to remain stable over the full year, the commerce ministry said.
China's October refined copper output rose 17.9% year-on-year to a record high of 868,000 tonnes. Production of lead, zinc and alumina also increased.
Indonesia's anti-monopoly agency has begun a preliminary study of the country's nickel smelting sector, an agency official said on Monday, after a miners' association accused big nickel smelters of conducting a cartel.
Russian aluminium group Rusal has faced tough negotiations with clients over 2020 supply contracts as trade wars and an economic slowdown have created a "buyer's market" for the metal, its sales director said.
Aluminium inventories in LME-approved warehouses jumped 91,075 tonnes or 8.6% to 1.2 million tonnes. Stock levels have risen about 22% since Nov. 12 and are being delivered to warehouses in Malaysia and Singapore.
Aluminium was down 1% at $1,738 a tonne, zinc fell 1.5% to $2,344, lead touched its lowest since Aug. 8 and ended down 2.2% at $1,953.50, tin slipped 0.2% to $16,060, while nickel ended 0.9% lower at $14,848, after touching its lowest in more than three months.