Copper prices ended off record highs set earlier in Monday's London Metal Exchange business, as buying interest petered out in low-key trade, dealers said.
Three-months copper ended at $3,917 a tonne, up $2 on Friday's close but off an earlier all-time peak above $3,950.
Current high prices met with resistance from physical dealers, although investment funds seemed content with their long positions, dealers said.
"After the jump in Asia, and then supported briefly in London, buying faltered and the market slipped back in very quiet conditions," a dealer said.
"I expect market sentiment could do with some stability after recent strong gains and it appears that prices have risen as much as they can, given supporting factors."
The cash-to-three months backwardation eased $10 to close around $170.
Plant closures, production cuts and labour disputes have all affected supply, which combined with falling LME stocks, have created tightness against robust demand.
European shares ended higher on Monday as record copper prices and a soaring gold market boosted mining stocks.
Canadian miner Falconbridge Ltd said on Friday it had begun the process of filing for a court injection to gain full access to its strike-bound Kidd Creek copper-zinc complex in Northern Ontario.
US miner Asarco, currently caught in a 3-1/2 month labour strike, has yet to open its Hayden smelter in Arizona, which shut for repairs last week.
And Zambia's copper industry remains beset with fuel shortages, with the Konkola Copper Mines' Nkana smelter running at half-pace and the Mulfulira smelter closed.
Analysts at Macquarie Research said that world metals demand growth had underperformed industrial production growth in 2005 on consumer de-stocking, although this indicator did not include China, the key consumer of industrial metals.
"Any upturn in economic growth will see this de-stocking stop, and perhaps even reversed, a potentially explosive combination for metals demand in the first half of 2006," the bank said in a weekly report.
Aluminium was at $1,904, down $3, while zinc was at $1,479, unchanged.
Lead was at $962, down $7, while nickel was at $12,700, down $400. Tin was at $6,600, up $50.
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