US MIDDAY: copper surges

In New York, the March COMEX contract jumped 5.70 cents or 1.5 percent to settle at $3.8630 per lb on Friday, after dealing between $3.7825 and $3.8825. Volumes surged to more than a quarter above their 30-day average, above 87,000 lots in late New York trade, after brighter US economic signals, particularly from the housing sector, stirred up demand hopes for the metal which is used in everything from piping and tubing to electrical wiring.
A drop in new US home sales in January failed to sway copper bulls, many of whom focused on upward revisions to the prior months' data and a drop in the supply of properties on the market. "More housing being built, more demand for copper," CIBC's Buchanan said.