Copper futures in New York staged a slight recovery from early weakness on Wednesday after a government report showed the pace of home building unexpectedly strengthened in September, sources said.
"The housing starts were a big surprise that put a halt to the morning slide. Everyone was clearly expecting the slowdown in the US housing market to continue," said one copper broker. By 10:22 am EDT (1422 GMT), copper for December delivery was up 0.90 cent at $3.5050 a lb. on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, moving between $3.4650 and $3.5295.
"The market has recently shaken off this bearish influence hanging above, and has somewhat broken out of its stagnant trading range. I think the tilt certainly favours the bulls at this point," said one market technician.
"The $3.45 level is definitely support right now, but we're also seeing some good support right at $3.50," he said. Spot October was unchanged at $3.4850. Volume at 10 am was estimated at 3,000 lots.