Shanghai copper extended gains on Wednesday, building on the previous session's 5 percent surge and chasing even sharper gains in London overnight on hopes that the slide in commodities since mid-2008 may have bottomed out. Shanghai copper futures rose 2.4 percent to 27,120 yuan at the close, after surging by their daily limit in the previous session.
While benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped $15 to $3,355, after jumping 6 percent overnight. The premium for Shanghai's three-month copper futures to the benchmark London contract, including China's 17 percent value-added tax, was 107 yuan, versus 340 yuan on Tuesday, enough still to encourage imports.