US MIDDAY: copper surges

Copper rallied Friday to its highest level in 4-1/2 months on the prospects of a demand boost from a new round of monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve to boost the world's largest economy. COMEX copper for December delivery shot up by 12.25 cents or 3.3 percent to settle at $3.8325 per lb, just shy of its intra-day peak at $3.8380, which marked its priciest level since May 1. The day's low was $3.73.
COMEX volumes rose above 57,000 lots in late New York trade, nearly a third above the 30-day norm, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.