India's copper futures extended gains for a fifth consecutive session on Thursday buoyed by a fall in inventory of the red metal at the London Metal Exchange and a weak rupee, analysts said. Copper stocks in the LME was rose 2,925 tonnes to 545,475 tonnes on Thursday. See [ID:LME/STX] "I am not convinced about the sustained bullishness in copper," said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director with Commtrendz Research in Mumbai, adding copper should be capped till 175-178. "Conditions are not favourable for copper to rise," added Thiagarajan. A weaker rupee also pushed up prices as it made the dollar-quoted red metal expensive. The Indian rupee dropped towards record lows on Thursday weighed down by heavy dollar demand from oil refiners and importers while arbitrage between the onshore and offshore markets also hurt. See [ID:nBOM473249] The benchmark copper contract MCCG9 was 2.14 percent higher at 171.50 rupees per kg at 3:10 p.m., after having gained more than 7 percent in the last four sessions. "Some resistance is expected at 174-175 (rupees) in copper," said Navneet Damani, an analyst with Anand Rathi Commodities in Mumbai. At 2:42 p.m., February zinc MZIG9 was 0.44 percent higher at 56.50 rupees per kg, while lead for February delivery MLDG9 was 1.08 percent higher at 51.40 rupees per kg. "If nickel breaches 520 rupees level, then expect a decent rally to 535 rupees," said Damani. Nickel for February delivery MNKG9 was 2.30 percent higher at 517 rupees at 3:08 p.m..

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