US copper futures extended a recovery from a midweek dip to 5-1/2-week lows on Friday morning on currency-based buying, as the dollar fell to a new low against the euro, raising the metal's appeal for non-US investors, traders and analysts said.
A stronger open on Wall Street, coupled with 28-year highs in gold and all-time highs in crude oil, provided additional support to the red metal's early advance, they said. Copper for December delivery was up 4.55 cents to $3.5315 a lb by 10:26 am EDT (1426 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, moving in an early $3.4850-$3.55 trading band.
"We hit some buy-stops above $3.53, and there was a little bit of short covering. As long as we hold on to these levels towards the end of the day, we're going higher," Hanemann said.
Volumes picked up from the prior day's sluggish pace, with 3,194 lots estimated by 9 am In industry news, Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, will cut its copper premiums in some Asian countries by 11-14 percent in 2008, an industry source said on Friday.
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