US MIDDAY: copper turns up on indications

New York copper futures started lower on Thursday in response to a large injection of copper at LME warehouses, but then turned up on indications of bullish demand for the red metal, traders said.
"Earlier some light fund selling came in, along with some speculators. It was light-volume and that was about it," said one COMEX broker.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, benchmark September copper firmed 0.85 cent to $1.6430 a lb, but slipped early to a low at $1.6150 a lb.
Spot August copper traded up 1.20 cents to $1.6990 a lb, up from the low at $1.6815. August set an all-time high of 1.7090 a week ago, driven largely by steep drops in stocks.