US copper futures closed higher on Tuesday, supported by strength in surrounding commodity markets and a continued strike in Peru, the world's second-largest producer of the red metal. Copper for September delivery ended up 2.80 cents at $3.9105 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.
The session range ran from $3.85 to $3.9245, the contract's highest level since its May 5 peak at $4.22. Front-month July rose 2.70 cents to finish the day at $3.9225, near the upper end of its $3.8825 to $3.9320 session range.
* Volumes were estimated at a thin 10,615 lots by 1:00 pm EDT (1700 GMT). Final volumes on Monday totalled 16,199 lots. Open interest rose 30 lots to 109,465 open contracts as of June 30. COMEX copper stocks were unchanged at 11,040 short tons on Monday.