COMEX copper futures are staying almost flat on Tuesday morning in Asia following a sharp surge of over 2.5% in the previous session. Data yesterday showed China's industrial profits returned to growth in August amid broadly choppy undertone on economic front. Industrial profits rose 20.4% in August from a year earlier, reversing a 1.5% year-on-year decline in July, while profits grew 0.9% in the first eight months compared to a 1.7% decline in the January-July period, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Saturday. Meanwhile, the major averages on Wall Street finished the day in positive territory but off their early highs. The Nasdaq climbed 107.09 points or 0.5 percent to 22,591.15, the S&P 500 rose 17.51 points or 0.3 percent to 6,661.21 and the Dow inched up 68.78 points or 0.2 percent to 46,316.07.