Copper futures rose to near one-week highs on Wednesday, aided by firmer Asian equities and US building permit data that offered hope demand will improve. Technical charts suggest a near-term trendless path for London copper after it jumped 2 percent on Tuesday on shrinking inventories and a surprise increase in US applications for building permits which suggested home construction activity could pick up this month.
Shanghai's benchmark third month copper gained 0.6 percent to close at 53,350 yuan a tonne. The contract peaked at 53,600 yuan, also its highest since July 15.