COMEX copper prices rose early Thursday, despite a sharp drop in durable goods orders, as speculative buyers keyed on rumours of a miners strike in Chile and later on a surge in home sales, traders said.
"It's speculative buying. There was news about a possible strike in Chile, but there won't be anymore news on that until Monday. Everybody's looking up now," said one copper trader.
Later, a big surge in new home sales sent copper rallying to session highs.
Active July copper was $1.50 higher at $1.2100 per lb, a session high, after the home sales results were released. The trading range reached a low at $1.1890.
September futures rallied 1.15 cents to $1.2080 a lb. and spot June was bid at $1.1960, though it remained untraded. Other contracts rose 0.40 cent to 0.70 cent.
COMEX estimated 10 am EDT (1400 GMT) copper volume at 9,000 lots, a more robust tally than in recent days.