May 6 (Reuters) - Shanghai copper prices fell on Monday, tracking losses in London, amid a firmer dollar and a lack of clear demand improvement from the troubled Chinese property market.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) closed down 0.6% to 81,300 yuan ($11,268.35) per metric ton, tracking an aggregated 0.8% decline on the London Metal Exchange. Chinese markets were closed for a holiday last week.
The London Metal Exchange is closed for a public holiday on Monday.
The dollar index rebounded, after hitting a three-week low in the previous session. A firmer dollar makes greenback-priced metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Copper prices have been supported by a potential cut of smelters' output due to limited mine supply. However, data has not reflected any large cut and smelters with long-term raw material supply contracts are less likely to do so soon.
"The (copper) smelting profit of long-term orders still remains above 1,700 yuan a ton, so the willingness of companies with long-term orders to actively reduce production may be relatively limited," said Huatai Futures in a report.
Despite the Chinese real estate sector showing no sign of bottoming out, steady demand from the power, electric vehicles and home appliances sectors contributed to a generally good end-user copper demand, Huatai analysts said in the report.
SHFE zinc shed 0.3% to 23,305 yuan, while tin rose 0.2% to 261,900 yuan, aluminium rose 0.7% to 20,745 yuan and nickel increased 0.8% to 145,040 yuan.
SHFE lead closed up 2.4% at 17,740 yuan. Earlier in the session, it hit 17,750 yuan, the highest since July 2018.
Lead inventories in warehouses tracked by SHFE
A trader said tightness of lead ingots in China caused the price jump on Monday.
For the top stories in metals and other news, click or ($1 = 7.2149 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sohini Goswami)
