Copper futures recovered and ended higher on Tuesday as industrial buyers scooped up the material, but there was some cautiousness after top metals consumer China warned it would dampen high commodity prices. Besides, supporting the sentiments China's January-March copper imports climbed to the highest first-quarter levels since at least 2008, on rising demand and easing logistics issues.
Copper futures for May delivery rose $0.0095 to settle at $4.0280 a pound on the Comex metals division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.5% at $8,906 a ton.