"It's very quiet, actually, considering it is only half a day of trading, and I expect it to stay that way," said a dealer. Copper trading on the COMEX will close at 12:05 pm on Friday, reopening will regular trading hours on Tuesday, Sept 5.By 9:59 am, active December, HGZ0. rose 0.20 cent to 89.70 cents a lb, in desultory range trading from 89.40 to 89.95 cents. It could expect to find support at 89 cents a lb and resistance at 90.50 cents, trading sources said.

Spot September, HGU0. was up 0.10 at 88.60 cents and the back of the board firmed 0.10-0.30 cent.Estimated volume was a mere 2,000 contracts."We are following London and there is not much going on there," said one New York floor trader. "They are coming off slightly now."

London Metal Exchange (LME) three-months copper posted a $5 gain to $1,929 a tonne, but rested off of earlier highs as interest faded after midsession. Dealers said funds were likely to add to forward positions if the market managed a firm close above key-resistance level $1,945 in the next week. In the prior trading session, copper notched down from seven-month highs on profit taking and a report by the US Commerce Department that orders for new goods from factories fell at the fastest clip on record in July. Demand for aircraft and other transportation goods was especially muted, the report said. Total orders fell 7.5 per cent to a seasonally adjusted $377.6 billion, much lower than the 6.1 per cent drop forecast by Wall Street economists. The figures came on the heels of a 5.2 percent increase in orders in June. Copper inventories were barely changed as LME warehouse stocks rose 900 metric tonnes to 449,050 tonnes on Friday. Thursday's daily data from the COMEX indicated that stocks were down 63 short tonsto 62,833 tons.