(Update prices to Asia market close, rewrite the lead, and add

analyst's comment in para 3.)

By Hongmei Li

SINGAPORE, June 16 (Reuters) - Copper prices on the

Shanghai Futures Exchange and the London Metal Exchange inched

up on Monday, supported by better-than-expected Chinese retail

data, although the escalating Israel-Iran conflict capped gains.

The SHFE most-traded copper contract was up 0.2% at

78,550 yuan ($10,938.89) per metric ton as of 0703GMT,

rebounding from a decline earlier in the session, while the LME

three-month copper gained 0.3% to $9,676.5.

"Copper seems to have performed more strongly as investors,

after initial hesitation, reacted with some optimism to China's

mixed data," a Beijing-based metals analyst with a futures

company said.

China's May economic data was mixed, as its retail sales

data exceeded expectations, even as industrial output missed

forecast. Ongoing weakness in the property sector also persisted

during the month, with new home prices declining.

Meanwhile, escalations between Israel and Iran also showed

no signs of cooling as the countries launched fresh attacks on

each other over the weekend.

"Geopolitics has new uncertainty with the conflict, and this

has raised concern over metals consumption," the metals analyst

said.

The dollar firmed 0.25% on Monday, extending its gains

with a further 0.2% rise in early Asian trading.

A firmer dollar usually makes greenback-priced commodities

more expensive for buyers using other currencies.

SHFE zinc fell the most among metals by 0.5% to

21,840 yuan a ton, nickel ticked 0.3% lower to 119,690

yuan, and aluminium eased 0.1% to 20,405 yuan, while

lead gained 0.2% to 16,980 yuan, and tin edged

0.1% higher to 264,500 yuan.

LME zinc gained 0.6% to $2,639 a ton, lead

went up 0.2% to $1,994.5, nickel rose 0.2% to $15,155,

while tin fell 0.2% to $32,615.

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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1100 EU Reserve Assets Total May

($1 = 7.1808 Chinese yuan)