HANOI: Copper prices rose on Friday, tracking gains in equities market buoyed by optimism over the global economic recovery on positive US labour data and its faster-than-expected COVID-19 vaccination roll-out plans.

Copper, used widely in construction, power and manufacturing, is often used as a gauge of global economic health.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.5% to $8,906.50 a tonne by 0630 GMT, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 0.2% to 66,320 yuan ($10,139.43) a tonne.

Equities markets rose as the United States completed its 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots 42 days ahead of schedule and posted a drop in unemployment benefits claims.

"Dow futures have rallied by some 130 points ... and metals are duly following its lead," said Malcolm Freeman, a director at UK broker Kingdom Futures, in a note.

Both copper contracts, however, are set for weekly losses.

"More and more individual pieces of data show a slowdown in demand whether from third wave COVID-19 in Europe, China cooling the economy down and the United States rattling its sabres internationally and warning of tax rises domestically," Freeman said.