US copper futures opened down but managed to climb to higher ground early Thursday on some local and fund buying, as the market took its cue from firmer overseas markets. "The sort of fear of a big Chinese sell-off today didn't emerge. On Wednesday, the first day they were back, there was some arbitrage selling in London, but that got quickly whipped back up again," said one dealer.

Many traders believed the market would have been flooded with Asian buyers as they returned from their week-long Lunar New Year holiday and possibly needed to make up lost ground.

Benchmark March copper at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 0.10 cent at $1.4490 a lb., after moving in its early $1.4340-$1.4540 trading band. Spot February was up 0.20 cent to $1.4780 a lb.

Copyright Reuters, 2005