Shanghai copper up

The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 1.8 percent at 52,980 yuan ($8,600) a tonne on Friday after falling for the past three sessions. China's copper imports dropped 7.4 percent from the previous month to 295,799 tonnes, the lowest since June 2011, data showed last week. The pullback in stimulus expectations in China may impact its construction sector, a major user of copper, said Alexandra Knight, economist at National Australia Bank, who sees copper at $7,300 towards the end of the year.