London copper rose on Monday for the first time in four days and New York prices also firmed, with sellers silenced at the start of the week by signs of buying in China and improved demand prospects in the United States. Copper pressed higher in healthy volume, as investors shifted their attention away from the European debt situation and focused on an improved demand outlook in the US after data showed new home sales surged in May to a two-year high.
In New York, the now-active COMEX September contract rose 1.05 cents to settle at $3.3255 per lb, after dealing between $3.2880 and $3.3420. COMEX copper volumes stood at 84,500 lots in late New York business, a shade above the 30-day average of around 80,000 lots, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
Most other base metals followed copper's lead. Aluminum futures ended up after sinking to a two-year low, tin bounced away from its lowest since September last year, and zinc fully recovered after dropping to its cheapest since late October. "There has been some consumer buying for copper, but it was only some spot buying and the size moderate. You won't have the large hedges coming in at this price as people don't have enough conviction and think the market might be trending lower," Ivan Szpakowski, analyst at Credit Suisse said.