Copper rose to a one-week high in New York futures early trade on Wednesday after reports of increased Chinese buying and upbeat data from China and the United States helped extend a two-day rally in the metal. Copper for March delivery rose 0.90 cent to settle at $1.5310 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.
Session range from $1.5030 to $1.5695, a high dating back to January 27. COMEX estimated volume at 16,525 lots by 1 pm EST (1800 GMT). Final volume on Tuesday hit 17,883 lots. Open interest declined by 1,285 lots to 87,299 contracts open as of February 3.