* Investors cautious ahead of China data this week * Euro falls on uncertainty over Greece, France election results * Coming up: Weekly U.S. chain store sales; 1145 GMT By Susan Thomas LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Copper fell on Tuesday, succumbing to a stronger dollar and as uncertainty over Europe's ability to resolve its debt crisis stoked fears about demand for industrial metals. Investors are also cautious ahead of China economic data due later this week, including numbers on import growth, inflation and bank lending. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.6 percent at $8,128 at 0948 GMT from $8,175 at the close on Friday. The exchange was closed on Monday for a bank holiday. "You have a little bit of negativity coming out of the U.S. and a lot of negativity out of Greece and Spain, and I think that's the main problem the metal market is trying to contend with," said Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis. Attention is focused on Greece where politicians are struggling to form a government after voters plunged their country into limbo in Sunday's election. The uncertainty has reignited fears its hard-fought bailout deal could unravel, forcing the country's exit from the euro. Investors are also waiting to see how the new French president-elect, Socialist Francois Hollande, who has advocated an approach to tackling the debt crisis centred more on growth, which may create tensions with Germany's insistence on fiscal austerity. "France's fiscal stability is not really in doubt but the election results in Greece are bound to be a source of event risks in future," Credit Suisse said in a research note. "For now, markets are likely to focus on fundamentals." The uncertainty in Europe eroded the euro, and the dollar rose against a basket of currencies, which also hit metals. A stronger dollar makes commodities prices in the U.S. unit more expensive for holders of other currencies. CONVICTION The strength of the U.S. economy following Friday's weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report, has also left metals investors with little conviction. But metals could get a lift from economic data from China this week that is likely to strengthen the view that the world's No. 2 economy has bottomed out as inflation slows and output picks up. A Reuters poll of economists found that the annual pace of export growth could have slowed again in April, but an anticipated rise in imports implies industry could be preparing for an upturn at home and abroad. Declining copper inventories could also support the metal. Latest data shows that copper stocks dropped by 2,175 tonnes, mostly out of U.S. locations. Headline LME stocks are at 228,450 tonnes, the lowest since October 2008 and half of the levels in October last year. Tin was down 0.5 percent at $21,339 from $21,450 while zinc was at $1,977 f rom $1,996 at Friday's close. Lead was at $2,093 from $2,100 and aluminium was at $2,066 from $2,067. N ickel was at $17,400 from $17,575. Metal Prices at 0942 GMT Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2011 Ytd Pct move COMEX Cu 370.00 -7.40 -1.96 344.75 7.32 LME Alum 2064.75 -2.25 -0.11 2020.00 2.22 LME Cu 8128.25 -46.75 -0.57 7600.00 6.95 LME Lead 2091.00 -9.00 -0.43 2034.00 2.80 LME Nickel 17419.00 -156.00 -0.89 18650.00 -6.60 LME Tin 21300.00 -150.00 -0.70 19200.00 10.94 LME Zinc 1977.00 -19.00 -0.95 1845.00 7.15 SHFE Alu 16190.00 -35.00 -0.22 15845.00 2.18 SHFE Cu* 57800.00 80.00 +0.14 55360.00 4.41 SHFE Zin 15410.00 25.00 +0.16 14795.00 4.16 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07

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