The metal recorded its highest close since July in the previous session and is still not far off the $6,500 a tonne mark as low inventories remained in focus.
Available copper stocks <MCU-STOCKS> in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange have tumbled to less than 30,000 tonnes from more than 130,000 tonnes in mid January, reaching the lowest level since mid 2005.
Citing LME data that showed speculators had increased their bullish bets on LME copper by 3,735 net long positions to 31,665, ANZ said "the recent improvement in sentiment amid the easing trade tension has seen investors become more bullish on the red metal."
FUNDAMENTALS
* COPPER: LME copper fell 0.4 percent to $6,468 a tonne by 0703 GMT. The most traded April contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange copper closed down 0.1 percent at 50,080 yuan ($7,486.14) a tonne.
* RIO: Rio Tinto has made a promising find of copper, gold and silver at its Winu prospect in WesternAustralia, Chief Executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said on Wednesday.
* COPPER: Vedanta Ltd is selling down copper concentrate stocks from its Sterlite smelter in southern India, looking to cut costs at the plant ordered permanently shut in May.
* M&A: Africa-focused explorer Nzuri Copper Ltd has received a A$109.5 million ($78.64 million) takeover bid from a unit of China's Chengtun Mining.
* CME GLITCH: U.S. exchange operator CME Group said on Wednesday operations on its CME Globex platform had returned to normal after it had to halt all trading due to technical issues.
* OTHER METALS: Aluminium rose 0.2 percent but all other LME metals were down 0.3-0.5 percent.
* ALUMINIUM: Glencore has lodged a complaint with the LME about the company's inability to take speedy delivery of aluminium from warehouses owned by ISTIM UK in Port Klang, Malaysia.
* COLUMN: Congo and Zambia win fight with copper miners but at a cost: Andy Home
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares inched towards a five-month after Powell's testimony.