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Copper futures in New York settled down but off their session lows on Thursday, garnering support from a softer dollar and a slight rebound in the energy markets, sources said.

"It seemed to me the copper market probably rallied in concert with the early session gains in the energy complex after the Department of Energy report was released," said Dan Vaught, futures analyst with A.G. Edwards.

Copper for December delivery ended down 2.35 cents at $3.3865 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, after dealing from an early low of $3.3350 to a session peak at $3.4290.

Since plummeting below $3.00 in mid-June, the benchmark December copper contract has been stuck in a wide trading band roughly between $3.20 and $3.70, with concerns of a deteriorating macroeconomic picture limiting the upside.

"If we start spending some more time below $3.40, that's pretty much right around the 100-day moving average, technically speaking, and that could spell the end of what has been a bull market and trade back down to lower lows," said one market technician.

Spot October lost 2.60 cents to finish the day at $3.3740, while the rest of the board closed with losses ranging from 2.35 to 3.40.

COMEX final copper volume was estimated at 10,000 lots, almost double that of Wednesday's 5,822 lots.

"A lot of the speculative interest has left this market, especially after the failure to get back above $3.50, but every time we dip back down near the $3.30 level, the buyers come back in," said one COMEX floor dealer.

Overseas selling weighed on the COMEX open, as Chinese import data continued to show limited demand from the world's largest copper consumer.

Official preliminary data for September showed imports of copper, including semi-finished products, fell 23.6 percent to 1.52 million tonnes in the first nine months.

In September, imports of copper, including semi-finished products, stood at 174,931 tonnes. The figure was 5.2 percent less than one month earlier.

"China's copper imports have been much weaker this year a trend we attribute to destocking by consumers and sales by the SRB (State Reserves Bureau), with smelters keen to boost scrap and concentrate imports in order to boost domestic refined production," said Robin Bhar, metals analyst with investment bank UBS.

In currencies, the dollar fell slightly against the euro on Thursday after a report unexpectedly showed a record U.S. trade deficit in August.

The U.S. trade deficit widened to $69.86 billion in August from a revised $68 billion in July, surpassing expectations of a narrowing to $66.7 billion.

In afternoon trade, the euro was firmer at around $1.2545, but still had the scope to retest the 2-1/2 month lows at around $1.2500 hit on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, London Metal Exchange-monitored warehouse stocks rose 100 tonnes to 114,000 tonnes on Thursday, while COMEX stocks rose 786 short tons to 22,354 tons on Wednesday.

LME three-months copper eased $25 at the close to $7,490 a tonne, against a Wednesday settlement of $7,515.