Copper ended a volatile week on firmer footing Friday, rallying 6 percent in its largest one-day advance since early 2010, as opportunistic buyers stepped up purchases on the eve of a European Union debt-crisis summit. A day removed from its worst one-day collapse in four weeks, copper bounced back strongly to lead all gainers in the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, as investors grew hopeful for a near-term solution to the euro zone debt crisis.
The metal was also helped by Chinese buying signals. Gains spanned the entire base metals complex. Aluminium tacked on 4 percent, zinc jumped nearly 5 percent, lead was up more than 6 percent, tin better than 4 percent, and nickel over 5 percent. In New York, the key December COMEX contract surged by 16.55 cents or 5.4 percent to settle at $3.2230 per lb, near the upper end of its $3.0770 to $3.2405 session range. Despite the magnitude of the price rally, volumes were not as strong. A little more than 55,000 lots traded in New York, largely in line with the 30-day average, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.