LONDON July 12 (Reuters) - Copper slipped 1.5 percent in Europe on Monday after Chinese data showing a drop in the country's copper imports for a third month in June stoked fears of a demand shortfall. Imports of unwrought copper, including semi-finished products, came in at 328,231 tonnes, 100,000 tonnes lower than expected and 17.3 percent less than in May. [ID:nTOE66900C] Analysts said while a seasonal slowdown was not too disquieting over the summer, further signs of weakness in Chinese imports could pressure the base metals. "The litmus test will be the end of the summer recess, going into the final quarter," said Peter Fertig, a consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research. "If demand for base metals should remain weak during September going into October, that would be a negative sign." PRICES * Three-month copper MCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was trading at $6,664 a tonne at 0726 GMT compared with $6,769 at the close on Friday. * Aluminium MAL3 was at $1,985 a tonne from $2,004. DATA/EVENTS * Eurogroup meeting takes place in Brussels. [ECI/US] [ECI/EURO] [ECI/GB] [M/DIARY] [MTL/DIARY] MARKET NEWS * The dollar rose 0.5 percent against the euro EUR= after the single currency touched a two-month high on Friday. The yen eased after election results showed political uncertainty ahead for Japan. [FRX/] * U.S. crude oil futures hovered at around $76 a barrel on Monday as China's bigger-than-expected trade surplus in June eased worries about a slowdown for the global economic recovery and oil demand. [O/R] * Asian stocks mostly rose, with investors reasonably upbeat as they awaited U.S. corporate earnings out this week. Japanese shares climbed as investors shrugged off a major election loss suffered by Japan's government over the weekend. [MKTS/GLOB] * European shares turned negative on Monday as miners lost ground, tracking weaker metals prices, after weekend data showed China's June copper imports fell short of expectations, though overall data surprised on the upside. [.EU] * China's trade surplus in June topped expectations on surprising strength in exports that suggests the global economic recovery has remained on track despite worries about a slowdown. [ID:nTOE669009] FUNDAMENTALS * China's imports of crude oil and soybeans hit monthly records in June, while imports of copper and iron ore slowed from May, preliminary data from China's customs office showed on Saturday. [ID:nTOE66900C] * BHP Billiton's (BHP.AX: Quote) (BLT.L: Quote) $20 billion Olympic Dam expansion plan in Australia remains on track for a final decision in 2011, BHP Billiton said on Monday after a newspaper reported the project may be delayed. [ID:nSGE66B01D] * China's Minmetals could develop a new open pit copper deposit at its Golden Grove zinc mine in Western Australia and has reactivated a study shelved during last year's financial crisis, the company's Australian subsidiary said on Monday. [ID:nSGE66B013] * South Korea is seeking 2,000 tonnes of high grade primary aluminium ingot of London Metal Exchange (LME) registered brands via a tender to close at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) on July 14, the state-run Public Procurement Service said. [ID:nTOE66B02W] TECHNICALS * Copper support at $6,532, resistance at $6,813, 14-day RSI at 55.9. * Aluminium support at $1,957, resistance at $2,012, 14-day RSI at 55.1. * LME copper may end a rebound from $6,318 per tonne over the next one or two trading sessions, as an upward wave "c" could have ended after a small five-wave cycle above the wave "b" bottom at $6,425 is observed, Reuters analyst Wang Tao said. * LME aluminium may fall to $1,966.50 per tonne -- the small wave "4" bottom, as the wave "5" could have ended after a high at $2,017 was touched last week. [ID:nSGE66B01V] For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= LME aluminium <0#MAL:> LME copper <0#MCU:> Asia physicals COMEX copper futures <0#HG:> Europe physicals Scrap metal prices BASEU3 LME plastics RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS Base/minor metals news [MET] All metals news [MTL] Metals summary [GLANCE/MTL] Scrap metals news [SCRAP/EUR] Index of summaries [GLANCE/] All commodities news [C] Metals diary [MTL/DIARY] Weather news [WEA] Foreign exchange rates FX=S SPEED GUIDES COMMODS METAL1 REUTERS For Reuters Metals Production Database click on URL below mpd.session.rservices.co (Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Sue Thomas)

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