The most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 1.5 percent at 40,260 yuan ($6,443) a tonne on Tuesday, having pared gains of more than 2 percent. ShFE zinc cut gains to 1.4 percent from 2.1 percent. "Greece was a non-event. We'll probably see a continuation of dollar strength and euro weakness (that) will place downside pressure on copper," said analyst Tim Radford at Sydney-based advisor Rivkin.
"It will probably get worse before it gets better - until we see for example a response by Europe's economy to the QE (quantitiative easing), which may be six months away." China's vast industrial sector - traditionally a mainstay driver of the economy - faces downward pressure, the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Tuesday, while profits for large-scale Chinese industrial enterprises fell by 8 percent in December.