Copper futures rose 1 percent yesterday, with prices in London and Shanghai reversing early losses in a choppy trading pattern that is set to continue as investors weigh increasingly positive data against fears the rally is overdone.

Metals prices have surged this year - copper and lead have rallied almost 110 percent since January - and even aluminum, the weakest of the LME constellation, has risen 24 percent.

But a slide of 3 percent in oil on Tuesday, crude's biggest one-day loss since August 14, a near-4,000 ton copper stock rise and worries that Chinese demand for industrial raw material is slowing from its record pace in the year to July, sparked profit-taking across the frothy sector.