US copper futures rose early Wednesday in a moderate short-covering bounce that seemed likely to falter due to surrounding weakness in other commodity markets and a still-uncertain demand outlook for the metal, traders said.
Copper for December delivery was trading up 4.70 cents at $3.32 per lb by 10:25 am EDT (1425 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. The range spanned $3.2520 to $3.3315. Spot September rose 5.05 cents to $3.3730. COMEX estimated futures volume at 5,325 lots by 10 am.