Shanghai copper slipped on Tuesday on growing worries about demand, while zinc regained some lost ground on fresh comments on China's output outlook. The February copper contract, the most active on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, was down 180 yuan, or 0.3 percent, at 54,420 yuan ($7,368) a tonne.
"The credit crisis in the US has been impacting on the broader economy, while controls on bank loans in China could stress local consumption in the remainder of the year," said analyst Yang Jun at China Futures.
Yang said he expected copper in Shanghai would be traded in a range between 52,000 yuan and 56,000 yuan for the short term. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was down $85 to $6,630 a tonne.
"I can not say there is a direct link between the commodity and equity markets, but the worries about the credit crisis influence commodity trading sentiment," an LME trader in Hong Kong said.
Asian stock markets fell on Tuesday, led by financial firms and major banks which came under fresh selling pressure as growing concerns about credit markets saw them track losses in US financial stocks. The Nikkei ended the session down 2.1 percent, while MSCI's index of other Asian Pacific shares was down 1 percent.
"The metals complex still appears to be in consolidation mode after last week's losses. A lack of any key US economic data releases was partly behind the drift, with the lack of direction bringing technical factors into play," Standard Bank's analysts said in a note.
The February zinc contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 1.7 percent, or 310 yuan, to 18,495 yuan a tonne, although LME three-month zinc dropped 1.4 percent to $2,355 after jumping nearly 5 percent on Monday.
Chinese zinc smelters may prefer to produce less metal next year if the government removes a 5 percent tax rebate on exports of super-high-grade zinc, although China's smelting capacity for zinc is likely to rise nearly 8 percent next year.
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