End-users bought aluminium in Asian trade on Thursday, helping the metal firm after sharp overnight losses, while other metals were range-bound.
Aluminium lost nearly 3 percent to close at $2,480 in London trade on Wednesday; a move that some traders said was currency-related after the euro hit a one-month high against the dollar that day.
It recovered to trade at $2,515 a tonne in Asia on Thursday. Other factors contributing to a bearish outlook for aluminium were a rise in inventories in the week to levels last seen in June, and the expectation that Chinese output and exports could rise as alumna prices fell, improving margins for Chinese smelters.
Spot alumina prices have plunged in recent weeks in response to China's growing domestic output. That drop has helped weigh on stock prices of Aluminium Corp of China Ltd, China's largest alumina producer, which have shed 7 percent since they hit a one-month peak on Tuesday.
"Banks were selling this morning in a continuation of Wednesday, but the consumers were buying. Japanese end-users in particular are buying, since in yen terms aluminium prices are cheaper than they have been for about the last month," said an LME broker.
"It was the busiest we've had in a while. Trading was brisk."
Nickel was quiet in Asia, after hitting a new record high of $23,075 in London trade on Wednesday.
Copper remained range-bound on Thursday, with resistance at $7,400 a tonne. Some selling was seen in Shanghai, on thin volumes.
Repeated sales by the State Reserves Bureau, which released copper to end-users this week, have depressed Shanghai copper prices to a heavy discount to LME prices, once the cost of importing copper is accounted for.
Spot copper prices in Shanghai fell to 65,150 to 65,500 yuan ($8,148 to $$8,192) a tonne on Thursday, down 75 yuan.
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