Copper ended higher on Tuesday, bouncing up from a two-week low as a pullback in crude oil prices eased concerns about inflation and allowed traders to focus on longer-term demand prospects. In New York, COMEX May copper rose 1.15 cents to settle at $4.3385 per lb, after dealing between $4.2540 and $4.3585.
Since hitting record highs in mid-February at $10,190 per tonne in London and $4.6575 per lb in New York, prices have been in a downward trajectory, losing nearly 9 percent of their value, as the crisis in Libya threatened the global recovery by boosting oil prices to their highest in more than 2 years. Copper stocks fell 650 tonnes to 426,500 tonnes, coming off Monday's level of 427,150 tonnes, which was the highest since July 2010.