Investing.com - Copper futures inched higher on Thursday, one day after falling to a two-week low on the back of persistent worries over future demand growth from top consumer China.
Copper for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 1.5 cents, or 0.65%, to trade at $2.376 a pound during morning hours in London.
Appetite for the red metal was boosted as China's Shanghai Composite recovered from the prior day's sudden sell-off to close up 1.5%.
On Wednesday, copper shed 0.5 cents, or 0.21%. It earlier fell to $2.330, the lowest since October 8.
Copper prices have been under heavy selling pressure in recent weeks as fears of a China-led global economic slowdown spooked traders and rattled sentiment.
Chinese government data released earlier in the week showed third-quarter economic growth slowed to 6.9%, the first time since the global financial crisis that the country’s gross domestic product has grown less than 7%.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.
Elsewhere in metals trading, gold futures for December delivery inched up 30 cents, or 0.03%, to trade at $1,167.40 an ounce, as market players continue to speculate over the timing of a U.S. rate hike.
The U.S. is to release a weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30AM ET Thursday, followed by a report on existing home sales for September at 10:00AM.
Investors have been trying to gauge when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade after recent economic reports offered a mixed picture of the U.S. economy.
The timing of a Fed rate hike has been a constant source of debate in the markets in recent months. The U.S. central bank has two more scheduled policy meetings before the end of the year: next week and in December.
Focus will also be on the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day. The ECB was expected to keep its monetary policy unchanged but could flag plans to enlarge its stimulus program.