Copper prices soared more than 2 percent in after-hours trading on Tuesday on short-covering which emerged after the Federal Reserve signalled it would employ policy measures to help the flagging US economy. Benchmark September copper on the COMEX exchange in New York, too, soared 8.55 cents, or 2.26 percent, $4.0470 per lb by 4:40 pm EDT (2040 GMT).
The copper contract closed the session 0.85 cent higher at $3.97 a lb, as players waited for news from the Fed, after earlier hitting a low dating back to December at $3.8180. Late in the day, copper volume of 78,547 lots was 68 percent above the 30-day average, according to ThomsonReuters data.
Primary aluminium production fell 2.7 percent on the month, but output still rose 13.2 percent from a year ago due to increased capacity. Tin ended up at $22,775 from Monday's close of $22,505 a tonne. The metal rebounded from lows of September 2010 hit in the previous session. Zinc settle firmer at $2,100 from $2,091, nickel was up to finish at $21,205 from $21,250, and lead rose to $2,254 from $2,205.