Shanghai copper rose to near six-week highs on Tuesday as the dollar fell to its weakest level in 14 months, boosting the appeal of commodities. The greenback's slide lifted oil above $80 a barrel and gold to near record levels, while global stocks climbed to one-year highs after strong sales numbers from Apple Inc suggested US consumers are spending more.
"The dollar will continue to move lower in the short term, and that's going to support the whole commodity market in terms of the price outlook," said Bonnie Liu, analyst at Macquarie. While the greenback remains the main catalyst, a slew of US data due later on Tuesday, including housing starts and building permits for September and weekly retail sales could provide some trading cues.
Shanghai's benchmark third month copper climbed 710 yuan to 50,210 yuan ($7,351) a tonne at the close, after rising as high as 50,570 yuan earlier, its loftiest since September 9. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose $12 to $6,477 a tonne by 0701 GMT, adding to Monday's $225 gain.