MELBOURNE: London copper edged up on Monday with much of the region returning to work after the Lunar New Year holiday, but top buyer China remained on a week-long break, draining volume and direction from the market.
"Copper is in a range, and I don't think it's just restricted to copper - oil is also in a range and trying to find a low," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance in Sydney.
"We've thrown so much at it, in terms of stimulus, it can only go one way, and that's eventually up."
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.6 percent to $5,727 a tonne by 0705 GMT after a 1 percent loss in the previous session.
Volumes were light across the board with less than 2,000 lots of turnover.
Nickel pared losses after hitting a one-year low on Friday, while zinc also climbed off a five-week trough.
China's stock, bond, foreign exchange and commodity futures markets are closed from February 18 to February 24 for the Lunar New Year holiday. Markets will resume trade on February 25.
Greece's government prepared reform measures on Sunday to secure a financial lifeline from the euro zone, but was attacked for selling "illusions" to voters after failing to keep a promise to extract the country from its international bailout.
The US manufacturing sector expanded in February at its fastest rate since November, after notching its lowest reading in a year in the previous month.
Highlighting prospects for tighter copper supply this year, Chilean state-run producer Codelco expects copper production to be reduced by at least 4,000 tonnes in February following a fire at its El Teniente mine last month.
The global world refined copper market showed a 42,000 tonne deficit in November, compared with a 29,000 tonne deficit in October, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said.
Hedge funds and money managers cut their net short position in copper in the holiday-shortened week to February 17, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
In other metals, premiums for aluminium in Asia are set to slip from record highs as China ramps up exports of semi-manufactured products, leaving regional producers searching for buyers for their surplus metal. European premiums have also begun to fall.
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