Copper prices hit six-month peak on low inventories

Meanwhile, copper stocks in Comex-registered warehouses at 735,470 short tons or 667,207 metric tons HG-STX-COMEX are up nearly 700% since U.S. President Donald Trump mooted import tariffs in February last year.

Elsewhere, copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange CU-STX-SGH have dropped more than 80% since the middle of March to 69,731 tons.

The Yangshan premium SMM-CUYP-CN, a gauge of China's appetite for importing copper, has slipped to $90 a ton from $115 on July 22, but it is still 350% higher than in January.

Overall, industrial metals were supported by a weaker U.S. currency, which makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Aluminium CMAL3 was up 0.5% at $3,270, zinc CMZN3 firmed 0.2% to $3,766, lead CMPB3 was little changed at $1,896, tin CMSN3 added 0.5% to $56,450 and nickel advanced 0.3% to $16,860.