Investing.com - Copper futures edged higher on Wednesday, as optimism over the U.S. economic outlook boosted demand for the industrial metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper for September delivery tacked on 0.61%, or 1.9 cents, to trade at $3.107 a pound during European morning hours.
Prices held in a narrow range between $3.084 and $3.115 a pound. A day earlier, copper futures lost 0.66%, or 2.0 cents, to settle at $3.088 a pound.
Futures were likely to find support at $3.072, the low from June 20 and resistance at $3.126, the high from August 18.
Data released Tuesday showed that U.S. housing starts jumped 15.7% in July, while the number of new permits granted to home-builders also accelerated, pointing to underlying strength in the housing sector.
Copper is sensitive to the economic outlook because of its widespread uses in construction and manufacturing.
Investors also looked ahead to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting later in the day, as well as comments from the Fed's three-day conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which starts on Thursday.
The spotlight will be on Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who will speak on Friday in her first appearance at Jackson Hole as head of the U.S. central bank.
Other speakers include European Central Bank Governor Mario Draghi and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery dipped 0.12%, or $1.50, to trade at $1,295.20 a troy ounce, while silver for September delivery edged up 0.16%, or 3.1 cents, to trade at $19.44 an ounce.
Receding geopolitical tensions stemming from the Ukraine conflict weighed on gold.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko are expected to meet in Belarus's capital of Minsk on August 26.
European Union officials will also be in attendance, in hopes of reaching a ceasefire or a political solution to the four-month old conflict in eastern Ukraine.