Copper prices rose through the first half of last week (October 26-30) before giving back part of those gains on Friday, leaving prices oscillating at elevated levels with the weekly price centre broadly steady. Fundamentally, smelter maintenance and delayed import arrivals kept spot circulation tight, pushing China's refined copper inventories low and lifting spot premiums. On the macro side, the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged as expected, but a resilient U.S. economy and sticky inflation kept the prospect of a December hike in play, restraining risk appetite and capping copper's upside.