* Shanghai copper to retrace to 44,090 yuan ID:nL3N0MA1GX

* Coming Up: 1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims; 1230 GMT

(Updates prices, adds quotes)

By Lewa Pardomuan

SINGAPORE, March 13 (Reuters) - Shanghai and London copper futures gave up early gains on Thursday, sitting not far off multi-year lows on concerns about China's economic slowdown and high inventory in the world's top consumer of the industrial metal.

Data showing a surprisingly big tumble in China's exports last month has shaken investor confidence, along with concern about corporate defaults. Dealers are now waiting for industrial output and retail sales figures at 0530 GMT.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 hit a high of $6,533.25 a tonne before slipping to $6,484.5 by 0346 GMT, down 0.3 percent. The contract fell as low as $6,376.25 a tonne on Wednesday, its weakest since July 2010.

"Fundamentally the situation in China is not looking bright. Defaults are surfacing, inventory has been rising very quickly, credit tightening is likely to continue," said Joyce Liu, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"A drastic turnaround in Chinese demand that is sufficient to push prices back to $7,000 per tonne levels is not within sight at the moment. I am spelling gloom and doom for copper market going forward, further downside to $6,050 per tonne looks possible on the technical chart."

Any default of loans in China will not set off systemic risks in the world's second-largest economy, Premier Li Keqiang said at a press conference on Thursday. ID:nB9N0M5003

The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 eased 0.3 percent to 44,540 yuan a tonne, having fallen to 43,740 yuan a tonne on Wednesday, its lowest since July 2009.

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Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 4.6 percent last week to 207,320 tonnes, while stocks in bonded warehouses were estimated by industry sources at up to 800,000 tonnes. ID:nENNE330RT

A good deal of copper held in China's bonded zones is tied up in financing deals where importers sell copper on domestic markets to raise credit for more lucrative investments elsewhere. There are fears these deals may unravel and trigger further selling.

Chinese investors caught out by the country's first default of a domestic bond face formidable obstacles to ever recover any funds from the deeply indebted solar equipment maker.

ID:nL3N0M721A

At least one U.S. scrap copper trader has suffered "large" losses after a buyer in China defaulted on a deal in the past week, one of the first signs that sinking prices and tightening credit are taking a toll on the physical market. ID:nL2N0M82A5

In other markets, Asian shares cautiously rebounded from two-week lows on Thursday though investors were in no mood to embrace risk ahead of a batch of Chinese data that may offer clues about the extent of its economic slowdown. MKTS/GLOB

PRICES

Three month LME copper CMCU3

Most active ShFE copper SCFcv1

Three month LME aluminium CMAL3

Most active ShFE aluminium SAFcv1

Three month LME zinc CMZN3

Most active ShFE zinc SZNcv1

Three month LME lead CMPB3

Most active ShFE lead SPBcv1

Three month LME nickel CMNI3

Three month LME tin CMSN3

($1=6.1448 yuan)

(Editing by Richard Pullin)

((lewa.pardomuan@thomsonreuters.com)(+65 68703834)(Reuters Messaging: lewa.pardomuan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 

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