Shanghai copper rose 2.4 per cent yesterday after modest falls in London in the previous session from a seven-month high, but growing optimism about the outlook for the world's economies supported prices near $5,100 (Dh18,729).
April US pending home sales rose 6.7 per cent, reinforcing more positive manufacturing data from around the world, and fuelling confidence the global economic slowdown may have turned a corner.
Shanghai's benchmark third month copper contract rose 950 yuan to 40,640 yuan ($5,952) by the close, 10 yuan short of an earlier six-week high. The most-active September contract also rose 2.5 per cent to 40,720 yuan. London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months rose $22 to $5,072 a tonne, having touched a 7-1/2-month high of $5,145 in the previous session and is up 66 per cent year-to- date.
The Shanghai copper benchmark flipped into a modest premium of 118 yuan a tonne versus LME metal, accounting for China's 17 per cent VAT, having traded at a discount for the past week or more. LME aluminium rose $3 to $1,475, while Shanghai metal gained 1.8 per cent to 13,075 yuan. The lightweight metal saw some support from the housing data.
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