Copper futures were lightly mixed early Thursday, helped by a drop in inventories, but still smarting from the sell-off on Wednesday, traders said.
They said there were no large trades or participants to gauge direction, and no relevant economic or fundamental news to stir a lethargic market on a slow summer day.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, September copper was up 0.10 cent to $1.6680 a lb., in a range between $1.6630 and $1.6740 a lb.
December, which assumed the benchmark position with nearly three times September's open interest, was down 0.10 cent at $1.6230, in a range from $1.6170 to $1.63.
Spot August rose 0.20 cent to $1.7190 a lb. It comes off the board on Monday. COMEX estimated 9 am copper volume at 5,000 lots, with rollovers accounting for 1,009 lots.