Copper rises

Sydney

London copper inched up on Tuesday after sharp overnight losses on fresh signs of a slowdown in Chinese demand.

Copper slid to a four-month low on Monday after data showed a steep drop in imports into China, the world´s biggest consumer, feeding pessimism over demand following hefty inflows into London Metal Exchange inventories last week.

"There´s been some investor interest today that´s keeping copper above $5,500 (a tonne), but not much more than that," a commodities trader in Perth said, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.4 percent at $5,506 a tonne by 0130 GMT, eroding a 1.8-percent loss from the previous session, when the contract at one point dipped to its lowest since Jan. 4 at $5,462.50.