US copper soars

Copper exploded above $8,000 per tonne on Thursday after a deal by European leaders to resolve the two-year-old eurozone sovereign debt crisis ignited a cross-commodity relief rally. For the week, prices of copper are up more than 14 percent - in line for its biggest weekly gain in more than 30 years.
It's a move that should begin to run out of steam, but analysts said there maybe some upside left due to ongoing supply problems at two major mines owned by Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, which threaten to tighten an already-constrained supply base. In New York, the key December COMEX contract shot up by 20.20 cents or 5.8 percent to settle at $3.6920, after moving between $3.4980 and $3.7135, a high dating back to September 22.