Base metals traded in a narrow range and most of them settled slightly lower as we saw some profit booking after an upside rally witnessed in the previous sessions. Weak regional manufacturing data from U. S., pressurized the prices too.

Aluminium was an exception in this complex as it rallied to Rs. 81.15 on MCX on Thursday, a gain of 2.01 percent. It surged by $ 40 on LME, a rise of over 2 percent.

China's production of refined copper rose 1.1 percent on the year to 335,000 tonnes in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. Primary aluminium production fell 5.7 percent on the year to 1.05 million tonnes. China is the world's top producer of aluminium, and the biggest consumer of copper and aluminium.

Copper stocks in Europe are now too low to cope with any quick recovery in demand, something that would require rapid new metal production, Europe's largest copper producer Aurubis said on Thursday.

Philadelphia Fed Business Index, a key regional manufacturing index, contracted more than expected in July. It showed a decline of 7.5 percent over the last figure of 2.2 percent.

Base metals look strong with optimism trickling down the globe about recovery after a long lull. We expect copper, aluminum and other base metals to trade firm during the day.