Shanghai Futures Exchange copper closed up 1.3 percent at 49,000 yuan ($7,341.15) a tonne on Thursday, above a one-year low of 48,390 yuan a tonne struck on Wednesday. Shanghai nickel closed 3.6 percent higher. Heavy losses in the previous session had pushed London Metal Exchange (LME) copper to its weakest in an almost a year as trade tensions between the United States and China undermined confidence in demand for metals.
"For now, prices have corrected as they take their lead from the global equity markets that have rallied off their lows but the metals volumes are thin," Malcolm Freeman, CEO of Kingdom Futures, wrote in a note. The bounce "appears to be no more than a correction ... with the possibility of more falls being ever present," he cautioned.
China accused the United States of bullying and warned it would hit back after the Trump administration raised the stakes in their trade dispute, threatening 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods in a move that rattled global markets.
The Indonesian government is expected on Thursday to announce the details of a deal to acquire a majority stake in the local unit of US copper miner Freeport McMoRan Inc, a source with knowledge of the matter said.