India copper futures recovered on Friday from their previous day's losses as a fall in inventory indicated a recovery in demand for the red metal, but a firm rupee kept a lid on gains, analysts said. Copper stocks in the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 3,175 tonnes to 522,025 tonnes on Friday. "It is because of Chinese buying...," said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director with Commtrendz Research, adding "consumption has picked up basically from China." China plans to buy copper, aluminium and other metals for reserves, the chairman of state-owned trading firm Minmetals told reporters on Friday. See [ID:nL6150589] However, Thiagarajan added "the view is dicey in copper unless the economic situation changes." A firm rupee makes the dollar quoted asset cheaper. The Indian rupee was higher in afternoon trade on Friday as a weak dollar overseas boosted sentiment, while some gains in the local share market which had dropped 1.8 percent early also helped. See [ID:nBOM409847] The benchmark April copper MCCJ9 was 2.65 percent higher at 193.85 rupees per kg at 3:37 p.m., after hitting a low of 188.4 earlier. Traders would also await the U.S. non-farm payroll data for February due later in the day to gauge direction in base metals complex. [MI/DIARY] "Moves could be volatile today as it is the last day of the week," said Thiagarajan, adding copper may trade in between 183-198 rupees. He expects copper to be at 200-220 in a month's time.

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