Lead, meanwhile, hit its highest in more than a month on worries over short-term supply after on-warrant, or available, LME inventories slid by 36 percent. "If you're looking to get long these are better levels at which to attract some further buying. People think this is a correction in an overall uptrending market," said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Societe Generale in London. "We still have quite of few supply threats in copper, aluminium and in nickel."
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed up 0.6 percent at $5,808 a tonne, bouncing from its weakest since March 10 at $5,715 a tonne. Metals also gained support from a weaker dollar, which hit a four-month low against the yen while the dollar index touched its weakest since February 3.
Shares fell, driving investors to the safety of government debt, gold and the yen, as doubts on President Trump's ability to deliver on the pledges that had powered stocks markets to record highs. Copper stocks in China's Shenzhen are seen as ample, while Chinese smelters are still not rushing to buy spot copper concentrate shipments, a smelter source said.
LME cash copper prices traded at their steepest discount to three-month prices since January 18, data showed - the widest spread since June 2015, suggesting the refined market is still in ample supply. BHP Billiton decided to suspend work indefinitely at projects linked to its Escondida mine in Chile, because of continuing union blockades at the world's largest copper mine in a strike that has extended to 42 days.
The union and company were due to resume talks on Wednesday. Lead was the biggest gainer on the LME. The metal rose 4.1 percent to close at $2,367, its highest since February 15. Nickel was the biggest loser, falling 1.4 percent to end at $10,020, partly pulled down by losses in Chinese steel futures. Aluminium finished 0.3 percent weaker at $1,922, zinc rose 1 percent to $2,857 and tin closed 0.2 percent up at $20,440.