US copper futures held near their session highs early on Friday, following a sharp rise in London prices on another large drop in visible warehouse supplies in China, while in-line US jobs data was taken in stride, brokers said.
Copper for March delivery was trading up 9.35 cents to $3.1420 a lb by 11:05 am EST (1605 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, near the upper end of its $3.0465-$3.1550 morning band. London copper for delivery in three months last traded at $6,925 a tonne, up $200 from Thursday's kerb close.
Copper prices crept higher following US economic data that showed new job growth during the month of November come in slightly ahead of forecasts. Copper prices found additional support from news overnight that talks to end a drawn-out strike at Grupo Mexico's Cananea copper mine collapsed. More than 1,000 workers walked off the job at the Cananea mine in Sonora state, near the US border, on July 30, halting its output of copper, silver and gold.