March 25 (Reuters) - Most base metals fell on Monday after a brief surge in early deals, as a stronger U.S. dollar made the greenback-priced metals more expensive for other currency holders.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.2% at $8,879.50 a metric ton, as of 0700 GMT, after rising as much as 0.8% earlier in the session.
The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 0.3% to 72,300 yuan ($10,032.19) a ton.
A trader said the gains in early trade were triggered by short-covering as the dollar was weaker against the yuan.
However, as the dollar recouped losses later in Asian trade, metals fell back, the trader added.
The yuan was propped up by suspected selling of dollars by state-owned banks and a strong official guidance set by China's central bank.
Copper prices, however, were cushioned by a slowdown in inventories build-up in warehouses tracked by the SHFE, which last week fell for the first time on a weekly basis since Dec. 22.
Chinese smelters are scheduled for major maintenance in the second quarter, and a potential output cut.
Comex copper speculators increased their long positions to 99,829 contracts on March 19, the highest since May 2021, data by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.
"If the macroeconomic environment cools down, copper prices will be at risk of falling back, but based on expectations of destocking in the second quarter, the room may be limited," Jinrui Futures analysts said in a note.
LME aluminium edged down 0.3% to $2,302.50 a ton, nickel declined 0.5% to $17,160, zinc was nearly flat at $2,484.50, lead was almost unchanged at $2,037, and tin fell 0.2% to $27,670.
SHFE aluminium increased 0.2% to 19,455 yuan a ton, lead edged up 0.1% to 16,240 yuan, while nickel fell 1.9% to 133,330 yuan, zinc fell 0.8% to 21,145 yuan and tin declined 0.8% to 226,100 yuan.
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($1 = 7.2068 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
