Copper prices ended slightly higher as investors continued to gauge what impact a Chinese investigation into commodity backed financing will have on supplies of the industrial metal.
Copper for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, rose 0.3 per cent, or 0.95 cent, to $US3.0530 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, its first gain in six sessions.
Prices for the industrial metal have fallen nearly three per cent this month as Chinese authorities investigate whether companies used the same copper, aluminum and iron-ore stocks held in the port of Qingdao as collateral for obtaining multiple loans.
Chinese trade data released Monday has also weighed on copper prices.
Imports dropped 1.6 per cent in May from April, lower than the six per cent rise forecast by analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal.
Lower imports of iron ore and copper contributed to the fall in overall imports, with imports of unwrought copper down 15 per cent last month.
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