LONDON: Copper prices rose on Thursday, snapping two days of losses, helped by tight supply and a pledge by the US Federal Reserve to go slow on interest rate rises.

Global stock markets hit record highs after the Fed said it would trim its bond-buying programme but wait for more job growth before raising rates.

The Bank of England also kept interest rates on hold on Thursday, defying expectations of a rate rise.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 1% at $9,551.50 a tonne at 1205 GMT.

Prices of the metal are up more than 20% this year after rising 26% in 2020, but have trodden water since reaching an all-time peak of $10,747.50 in May.

Supporting copper are higher coal prices in China that have raised production costs, said Gianclaudio Torlizzi at consultants T-Commodity. China is the biggest smelter of metals.

Copper bounces on scarce supplies and robust risk appetite

Torlizzi said he expected copper to rise as a global semiconductor shortage eases, global growth improves, supply remains tight and the Fed keeps monetary policy loose.

"Production costs have risen and that will create a higher floor for prices," he said. "I see this as an opportunity to get long again."

Copper Stocks: On-warrant inventories in LME-registered warehouses have risen to 38,450 tonnes but remain close to historic lows, forcing traders to pay high premiums to get metal.

Visible stocks in China are also low.

Europe: German industrial orders rose less than expected in September and euro zone business growth slipped to a six-month low in October, data and a survey showed on Thursday.

Aluminium: Expectations that Russia will remove taxes on aluminium exports and boost global supplies have triggered an inventory sell-off, slashing prices in the physical market in Europe and the United States.

Metals Prices: Benchmark LME aluminium was up 0.4% at $2,667.50 a tonne, zinc was flat at $3,306.50, nickel rose 1.1% to $19,365, lead gained 0.4% to $2,383.50 and tin was down 0.3% at $37,015.