Most base metals fell on Monday after a brief surge in early deals, as a stronger U.S. dollar made the greenback-priced metals more expensive for other currency holders. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.2% at $8,879.50 a metric ton, after rising as much as 0.8% earlier in the session. The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 0.3% to 72,300 yuan ($10,032.19) a ton. A trader said the gains in early trade were triggered by short-covering as the dollar was weaker against the yuan. The yuan was propped up by suspected selling of dollars by state-owned banks and a strong official guidance set by China's central bank. Copper prices, however, were cushioned by a slowdown in inventories build-up in warehouses tracked by the SHFE, which last week fell for the first time on a weekly basis since Dec. 22. Chinese smelters are scheduled for major maintenance in the second quarter, and a potential output cut. Comex copper speculators increased their long positions to 99,829 contracts on March 19, the highest since May 2021, data by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.