Shanghai Futures Exchange copper climbed 2.7 percent to 36,820 yuan ($5,621) a tonne, helping spur 2.6 percent gains in nickel and 1.7 percent advance in zinc. Announcements from China this week of a cut in bank reserve requirements and structural reforms that have helped real estate prices climb helping underpin sentiment as did rising Asian stockmarkets in Asia, building on momentum from better US manufacturing results on Tuesday.
Global oil prices also appear to have bottomed out and are expected to rise through this year as investment cuts help to reduce a supply glut, a senior analyst at the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.
For metals in particular, fundamentals are still very poor, post the Lunar New Year holiday, even though prices are rising on expectations of an improving global economy, said Chunlan Li of consultancy CRU in Beijing.
"Copper stocks inside China are very high but prices have rebounded because of sentiment over the macro economy, especially the house market in China," she said.
"So we're still waiting to see if demand will pick up after the holiday to support the (higher) prices."