NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Copper futures rose Thursday as data showed a rise in U.S. May retail sales and a decline in weekly initial jobless claims. Gold and silver fell. July copper was last up 4.3 cents, or 1.8%, at $2.41 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. August gold fell $8.40, or 0.9%, to $946.30 an ounce, and July silver lost 25 cents, or 1.6%, to $14.975 an ounce.
