Copper stable

Sydney: London copper firmed early on Friday, rebounding from overnight losses, as investment funds followed a flight into risk-averse investments like metals after North Korea ratcheted up geopolitical tensions with the firing of a missile over Japan.

"We saw some immediate fund interest in copper, which is propping up the price," a commodities trader in Perth said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Copper had dropped to a four-week low on Thursday after some weaker-than-expected data from China pointed to slowing demand from the metal´s top consumer. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1 percent to $6,510.25 a tonne by 0100 GMT.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 0.45 percent lower at 50,350 yuan ($7,684.68)a tonne.