MUMBAI, March 12 (Reuters) - India copper futures were almost steady on Friday afternoon as support from a weaker dollar overseas and falling stockpiles was offset by concerns of monetary tightening in China, the top consumer, analysts said. Investors would be waiting for the U.S. retail sales data due later in the session for direction in the base metals complex. The most-traded April copper contract MCCJ0 was 0.40 percent higher at 341.10 rupees per kg at 3:50 p.m. "Selling in copper is recommended at current market price for a target of 337, maintaining a stop loss of 343 rupees," said Navneet Damani, an analyst with AnandRathi Commodities. Sell copper below 335, for a target of 333/329 rupees, maintaining a stop loss of 337.80 rupees, advised Religare Commodities in a report. Chinese consumer inflation spurted to a 16-month high in February and a raft of economic data displayed broad-based strength, providing fresh arguments for policy tightening sooner rather than later. See [ID:nTOE6290B5] The dollar index, the gauge of greenback's performance against a basket of currencies, was 0.67 percent lower at 79.786. A weak dollar makes dollar-priced metals less expensive for non-U.S. investors. Copper stocks in the warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 3,075 tonnes to 532,575 tonnes on Friday. In other base metals, zinc March MZIH0 was 0.52 percent higher at 106.35 rupees per kg, while March lead MLDH0 was 0.54 percent higher at 103.20 rupees per kg. Sell zinc below 104 for a target of 103, with a stop loss of 105 rupees, said Religare. Nickel for March delivery MNKH0 was 1.38 percent higher at 984.70 rupees per kg. Buy nickel above 978 rupees for a target of 990 rupees, said Religare in its note. (Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Harish Nambiar)

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