Copper rises

Sydney

London copper edged higher on Friday after a second session of losses, but remained vulnerable to further sell downs amid concerns about rising inventories and weakening consumption.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained 0.3 percent to $5,560.5 a tonne by 0155 GMT, modestly reversing losses from the previous session that swept copper to a five-month low* The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.7 percent to 45,220 yuan ($6,557.42) a tonne.

Inventories in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses rose nearly 33,000 tonnes on Wednesday, exchange data showed, bringing this week´s increase to 64,000 tonnes, or 25 percent.

The impact of swelling stockpiles of the metal was compounded by data this week showing U.S. factory activity slowed in April while growth in China´s manufacturing sector slowed more than expected.