Copper rose on Friday after London Metal Exchange inventories fell steeply.

Copper was up 3.85 cents, or 1.1 percent to $3.539 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Supplies of copper traded on the London Metal Exchange fell 4,000 metric tons on Friday, bringing the weekly total to a 16,000 tons decline. The 9.7 percent drop for the week was the biggest decline since October 2005.

Traders believe an increase in Chinese copper supplies may mean that inventories are moving away from London storage. Shanghai Futures Exchange inventories were up 54 percent to 31,188 tons, according to a weekly report released today.

The dollar's decline also helped bolster copper.

The U.S. dollar dropped to $1.4678 per euro in afternoon trading in New York, from $1.4643 late Thursday.

Copper for April delivery on the LME was up $50, or 0.7 percent $7,730 per metric ton.

Copper