HANOI: Shanghai copper prices leaped to a more than nine-year high on Friday, while the London contract breached the $8,000 per tonne mark to hit a near eight-year peak, buoyed by low inventories and U.S. stimulus hopes.

The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as much as 2.2pc to 59,500 yuan ($9,095.36) a tonne, a level unseen since September 2011. The contract closed up 1.8pc to 59,260 yuan a tonne.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange jumped as much as 1.4pc to $8,028 a tonne, surpassing the psychological level of $8,000 and hit its highest since February 2013.

Both contracts are set for their seventh straight weekly gains.

"We will only go higher from here - demand is fierce, stocks are low and there is more money coming into the system. The only risk is the dollar," said commodities broker Anna Stablum of Marex Spectron.

ShFE copper inventories dropped to their lowest since December 2011 at 74,222 tonnes on Friday.

Combined stockpiles of the metal LME, ShFE and COMEX warehouses combined were hovering near their lowest since December 2014 at 281,648 tonnes as of Dec. 17, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

U.S. lawmakers continued negotiations on a potential coronavirus aid bill, saying that failure to agree was no longer an option.

"It's just a matter of time," Stablum added.

FUNDAMENTALS

TIN: The LME tin cash-three month spread was last at a $49-a-tonne premium, its highest since July 28, as LME inventories fell to their lowest since June 22 at 3,010 tonnes.

ZINC: The global zinc market registered a 480,000-tonne surplus in January-October, compared with a 216,000-tonne deficit in the year-ago period.

ALUMINIUM: U.S. premiums hit their highest since Sept. 30 of $311.602 a tonne.

PRICES: LME aluminium rose 1.2pc to $2,078 a tonne at 0801 GMT, while ShFE aluminium climbed 1.9pc to 16,780 yuan a tonne and ShFE zinc jumped 1.4pc to 21,950 yuan a tonne.