Base metals continued to trade routinely during Friday's open-outcry sessions on the London Metal Exchange (LME), marking time ahead of US jobless data, traders said.
Contracts were mixed after moving off their early lows, although a sideways trend largely prevailed, they said.
"Everyone is waiting for these figures at 1330 (local). It is just on hold for that," a trader said.
US August non-farm payrolls data is due at 1230 GMT. Economists expect that the US economy added 150,000 new jobs in August, against July's 32,000.
Business was otherwise low-key and a mostly softer trend followed bearish technical closes on Thursday. Potential support from supply-side disputes was largely shrugged off, traders said.
Southern Peru Copper Corporation workers said Thursday they would continue the strike which started this week, threatening to escalate the dispute through roadblocks.
Meanwhile, workers at Venezuela's largest state-run aluminium smelter Venalum are threatening a strike that could cut into production at the 430,000 tonne-a-year plant, company and union officials said on Thursday.
Copper veered away from an early figure towards $2,700 a tonne, assisted by the 800-tonne warehouse stock fall, as talk has continued to circulate of further inventory increases in Asia.
Three months prices ended the rings at $2,719, down $11 from Thursday's kerb close.
Aluminium was hit by early selling pressure after breaching $1,680 support, bust subsequently consolidated. It was $12 lower at $1,675.
Nickel eased $150 to $12,300/12,325, extending recent steep losses after another inventory increase.
Stocks rose 186 tonnes, as the trend of metal attracted by the recent run of high cash backwardation continued.
In other metals, lead bounced to $845/850, up $5. Trade buying has absorbed a wave of fund and technical selling, while inventories fell 450 tonnes, partly negating the impact of persistent talk of a significant increase.
Zinc inched up $3 to $962 and tin was $50 lower at $8,950/8,975.
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