--Comex March copper up 1.15 cents, or 0.3%, at $3.8175 a pound --Euro's fresh two-month highs draws buyers to copper --Worries about Chinese, European demand still linger By Matt Day Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Copper futures pushed higher Friday in quiet trading after two days of declines, as a weaker dollar drew buyers to the industrial metal. The most actively traded copper contract, for March delivery, was recently up 1.15 cents, or 0.3%, at $3.8175 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The euro on Friday touched its highest levels against the dollar since early September. A weaker dollar can lift dollar-denominated copper by making the futures appear cheaper for buyers using other currencies. "After ignoring the euro yesterday, a stronger euro this morning has helped the base metals," Standard Bank analyst Leon Westgate said in a note, adding that metals prices were still struggling for direction. Copper and other industrial metals have been bound by conflicting signals about the health of the global economy. Copper prices tend to react strongly to shifts in the growth outlook because of the metal's widespread applications in construction and manufacturing. The ductile and electrically conductive metal is found in wiring, plumbing and consumer electronics. Futures early this month pushed to just short of $4 a pound, the highest levels since mid-September, on hopes that steady industrial activity in the U.S. and easing monetary policy in top consumer China wound underpin demand for the metal. But futures have retreated since, shuffling on either side of the $3.80 mark as some traders worried that real demand in China and Europe wasn't strong enough to justify this year's price gains. Through Thursday's close, copper futures were up 12% in 2012. "Expect more sideways trading until the news flow changes," William Adams, an analyst with metals research service FastMarkets, said in a note.

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