Copper futures rallied on Tuesday, pumped up by early Chinese buying in London, and remained strong as participants awaited an assessment of Hurricane Katrina's damage to Gulf Coast states, traders said.
"There was Chinese buying overnight and Chinese were good buyers in London this morning, so we're up. As we're finishing up with the rollover, and we are almost done with September now the front month, we're starting to get more interest in the market," said one copper trader.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, benchmark December copper rose 1.85 cents to $1.64 a lb., in a range spanning $1.6220 to $1.6470 a lb. On Monday, it hit a contract high at $1.6580.
Spot September copper was up 2.05 cents at $1.6970 a lb., and ranged from $1.6780 to $1.7010 a lb. COMEX estimated 1000 am EDT copper volume at 4,000 lots, with rollovers nearing completion and accounting for 728 lots. With London copper closed for a late-summer holiday on Monday, market illiquidity allowed for wide price fluctuations carried out mostly by locals.