By Millie Munshi
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices jumped the most in a week on speculation that government spending plans in the U.S. and China will spur economic growth and boost demand for the metal used in pipes and wires.
China, the world’s biggest copper user, started investing a second part of a 4 trillion yuan ($580 billion) stimulus plan and may enact another to boost petroleum industries. In the U.S. Senate, debate began yesterday on an estimated $885 billion spending plan supported by President Barack Obama. Copper rose 4.1 percent in January on speculation that demand will revive.
Copper gained as traders “await the outcome of whatever impact the combined economic stimulus packages of China” and the U.S. will have, Alex Heath, the head of industrial metals at RBC Capital Markets in London, said today in a report. “The momentum does look to be favoring further gains.”
Copper futures for March delivery surged 5.85 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $1.4895 a pound at 9:22 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. A close at that price would be the biggest advance for a most-active contract since Jan. 26. The January gain was copper’s first monthly advance since June.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months jumped $125, or 3.9 percent, to $3,300 a metric ton ($1.50 a pound). The price reached a record $8,940 on July 2.
To contact the reporter on this story: Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net
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