Copper firm

Sydney: London copper firmed, 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.

Copper has surged 28 percent from its May low to its 2017 peak of $6,970, hit on Sept. 5, on expectations of strong demand from China.