Copper fell through $1,435 a tonne, the low of early January, to trade down to $1,428 a tonne -- its cheapest price since the turn of April/May 1987.

Copper stocks in LME warehouses are nearing their record high set in 1978 -- visible proof of burgeoning oversupply amid slack demand due to the Asian crisis -- and 100,000 tonnes or more are expected to arrive from Chile in coming months.

So news of a comparatively modest 2,000 tonne daily increase, just after the downturn on Friday, may have helped to support prices which failed to continue to slide, dealers said.

They said the key industrial metal showed little sign of a marked further deterioration amid slack volume but the next test would come with the opening of the COMEX market in New York.

``The next real test will be COMEX,there are stops there and if they are triggered we will go lower. The market is very short there and I think the shorts will sell into the fall and probably take it a little lower,'' said one trader.

But he said copper might also try to regain its previous range.