MARKETS-METALS (UPDATE 3) * Economic sentiment improving but doubts remain * LME stocks dip, China data later this week eyed * Dollar strength, equity falls weigh on base metals * COMING UP: ICSC/Goldman US chain store sales at 1245 GMT. (Recasts, adds details, changes dateline from SINGAPORE) By Michael Taylor LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - Copper slipped on Tuesday on a firmer dollar and as investors grew cautious after a recent rally in risky assets. By 1058 GMT, copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at $7,405 a tonne from $7,470 at the close on Monday and compared with a session low at $7,388. "Currencies are having an impact on an intra-day basis -- the dollar firmer and equities lower," said Daniel Major, an analyst at RBS Global Banking & Markets. "From a macro perspective, there are plenty of headwinds that could rear their heads, and that's a reason to remain pretty cautious on the outlook for risk-driven assets such as commodities," he added. After a 5.5 percent rally early last week partly due to an earthquake in top supplier Chile, copper prices have fallen into a range between lows at $7,255 and highs at $7,634. In other markets, the euro was softer versus the dollar after struggling on Monday, as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou warned if the Greek crisis worsened it could lead to a new global financial meltdown. A firmer U.S. currency makes metals priced in dollars more expensive for holders of other currencies. Copper has had "a fairly good run and there is quite a bit of overhead resistance, and people were expecting the euro to have more of a rebound and provide some dollar weakness", said William Adams, an analyst at Basemetals.com. "Without some of that weakness, some of the metals are struggling. We're going to probably have a day of consolidation ... it may just be that they need to spend some time pausing." But many analysts say underlying economic sentiment is still showing signs of improvement and industrial metals could move higher this quarter, as fears of a double-dip recession fade. Focus is now shifting to Thursday's trade data from China, the world's largest metals consumer. For a graphic, click: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/NTrv_20100903114823.jpg "Over a longer term trend, we're expecting copper and base metals imports to be significantly lower in 2010 than 2009 into China, as robust domestic demand growth erodes some of the unreported stocks held in the country," said RBS' Major. A recent trend of falling LME stocks however, has hinted at a possible rise in demand outside China, the world's largest metals consumer. Copper inventories fell 2,700 tonnes to 538,875 tonnes to levels not seen since late January. Also helping cap losses are movements in cancelled warrants -- material earmarked for delivery on stocks in LME warehouses. On Monday, copper cancelled warrants were at 26,725 tonnes from 3,625 tonnes on Feb. 8. Aluminium traded at $2,228 versus $2,231. LME stocks for the metal, used in transport and packaging, fell 5,925 tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes. A large portion of those aluminium stocks are tied up in finance deals, to release cash for producers and to earn banks higher returns than they would get in money markets. On Monday, aluminium cancelled warrants were at 294,075 tonnes compared with 256,550 tonnes on Feb. 8. "It is important to note that metal prices rose continuously, while stocks rose continuously for the past nine to 12 months," RBS' Major said. Steel making ingredient nickel traded at $21,910 from $22,300, while battery material lead was at $2,221 from $2,257.50. Zinc traded at $2,331 a tonne from $2,370 and tin was at $17,400 from $17,300. For earnings from Chilean copper miner Antofagasta, click on . For stories from the Reuters mining and Steel Summit, click Metal Prices at 1059 GMT Metal Last Change Percent Move End 2009 Ytd Percent move COMEX Cu 335.30 -4.35 -1.28 332.75 0.77 LME Alum 2225.00 -6.00 -0.27 2230.00 -0.22 LME Cu 7400.00 -70.00 -0.94 7375.00 0.34 LME Lead 2215.00 -42.50 -1.88 2432.00 -8.92 LME Nickel 21860.00 -440.00 -1.97 18525.00 18.00 LME Tin 17350.00 50.00 +0.29 16950.00 2.36 LME Zinc 2325.00 -45.00 -1.90 2560.00 -9.18 SHFE Alu 16775.00 -140.00 -0.83 17160.00 -2.24 SHFE Cu* 60050.00 -430.00 -0.71 59900.00 0.25 SHFE Zin 18915.00 -130.00 -0.68 21195.00 -10.76 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07

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