Copper up slightly on improved US outlook

KUALA LUMPUR: London copper rose slightly for a second straight day on Wednesday as signs of growth in the United States and Germany raised expectations that demand for the industrial metal will increase.

FUNDAMENTALS

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed 0.3 percent to $7,430 a tonne by 0101 GMT, extending a 2.1 percent gain from the previous session. Prices are still headed for the first annual decline in three years.

The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added 1.7 percent to 54,650 yuan($8,600) a tonne.

Copper prices will average $3.60 to $4 a pound next year as Chinese demand for the red metal helps compensate for Europe's debt woes, Chile's influential mining association Sonami said on Tuesday.

Chinese investors will import less copper and nickel as collateral for short-term loans if Beijing loosens credit policy next year, but will still bring in some metal if easing fails to reach the property sector.

MARKETS NEWS

US stocks rallied nearly 3 percent on Tuesday as investors bought surging banks, homebuilders and networking companies, though low volume was seen as amplifying the market's move.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 335.73 points, or 2.87 percent, at 12,103.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 2.98 percent.

Copyright Reuters, 2011