US copper futures ended up nearly 2 percent on Wednesday, driven by a 14-month low in the dollar, better-than-expected quarterly corporate profits and an unexpected surge in September imports of the metal into China. Copper for December delivery rose 5.00 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $2.8445 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. Range from $2.8060 to $2.8590.
Last week, December contract hit a three-week high at $2.9010. COMEX estimated futures volume at 18,887 lots by 1 pm EDT (1700 GMT). Final volume on Tuesday at 26,122 lots. Open interest down 534 lots to 121,664 contracts open as of October 13. London Metal Exchange warehouse stocks jumped 5,275 tonnes to 353,225 tonnes on Wednesday. COMEX copper warehouse stocks went up 423 short tons on Tuesday, bringing total levels to 56,442 short tons. LME copper for three-month delivery ended up $80 at $6,220 a tonne.