Malaysian tin jumped 1.4 percent on Friday, halting a 3-day slide, after a rise in the London price of the metal spurred European and Japanese buying.
The spot contract on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) rose $90 to $6,710 a tonne, on a volume of 85 tonnes. It slid $230, or 3.34 percent, between on Tuesday and Thursday.
Dealers expected cautious trading in the week ahead. "I think we'll fluctuate between $6,700 and $6,800, not much of a range," said one dealer.
Three-month tin surged $205 to $6,655 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday, recovering almost all its previous day's losses as other base metals played catch-up to gains in copper.
LME tin often lends price direction to the KLTM. Dealers said the $115 difference in the rise between the KLTM and the LME narrowed the premium for shipping a tonne of Malaysian tin to Europe to $270 from Thursday's $385.
Opening bids by European, Japanese and Malaysian buyers at Friday's KLTM totalled 105 tonnes, against the 55 tonnes offered by sellers.
Final turnover was 85 tonnes, with the Europeans taking 60 tonnes, the Japanese 10 and Malaysians 15.