Reuters reported that London copper edged higher and was on track to post a weekly gain for the first week in three after solid US data added to the case that a global recovery is gaining steam, although a robust dollar capped gains. Copper prices are recovering from three week lows near USD 7,080 per tonne last week and have traded in a broader USD 7,000 to USD 7,500 band for the past month, underpinned by a slow revival in the global economy but curbed in the short term by a stronger dollar and in the medium term by improving supply. Mr Matt Fusurelli analyst of AME Group sadi that "Things are looking better on the demand side China looks like it is holding up and some better news is coming out of Europe. Our Q4 price forecast for copper is USD 7,050 average, so we are not far off the current price range. The reasons for that are a combination of the improved macro demand outlook and supply." Three month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.5% to USD 7,143.75 per tonne by 0306 GMT, reversing losses from the previous session as prices eyed a small weekly gain of more than half a percent the first advance since mid August. The most active December contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up 0.1% to CNY 51,740 per tonne. Chinese data due out next week is expected to confirm that Beijing has prevented a sharp slowdown in its economy, after the government stepped in with policies to encourage investment and strengthen its hand to push through reforms. China is the world's top consumer of copper accounting for around 40% of refined demand. In the United States, solid jobs and service sector data bolstered views the Federal Reserve could start slowing its bond buying program as soon as this month but plunging orders for factory goods highlighted uncertainty around the economic outlook.

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