Copper started the new week on solid footing on Monday, rallying by its most in more than two weeks as the dollar weakened after remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reaffirmed the US central bank's accommodative monetary stance. In New York, the May COMEX contract jumped 7.90 cents, or 2 percent, to settle at $3.8875 per lb, near the upper end of its $3.7950 to $3.8940 session range.
Up nearly 2 percent, copper led all gainers within the 19-commodity Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, pushing toward session highs after Bernanke said the US economy needs to grow more quickly to bring down the unemployment rate further, defending the Fed's policy of ultra-low interest rates.
While up near its session highs, prices of the metal in both London and New York remain mired in the middle of a wider trading range this year, unable to break out in either direction due to conflicting views of a slower China and bullish trend in warehouse stockpiles and improving US economic signals. "Clearly the Chinese economy has had signs of slowing at the margin, but the US data has come in a little bit better than expected so it's keeping it in this recurring range," PIMCO's Johnson said.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.