The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange surged 3.3 percent on Monday to close at 55,370 yuan a tonne. Copper and other commodities got an early lift from a weekend media report suggesting the International Monetary Fund was preparing a rescue plan worth up to 600 billion euros for Italy. Commodities held on to gains even after the IMF said later that it was not in discussion with Italian authorities on a financing plan.
Despite the IMF's denial of the report, it is clear that "something has to be done to get Italy to lower its cost of funding," said David Thurtell, analyst at Citigroup. Finance ministers from the eurozone are meeting on Tuesday, when they are expected to approve detailed operational rules for the eurozone's bailout fund, which will clear the way for the 440 billion euro facility to attract cash from private and public investors to its co-investment funds in coming weeks.