Investing.com - Copper futures rallied for a fourth day on Thursday, trading at the highest level since early December after data showed Chinese inflation cooled to a 15-month low in December, boosting expectations for near-term monetary easing in the world’s largest copper consumer.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for March delivery traded at USD3.587 a pound during European morning trade, gaining 1.15%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.28% to trade at USD3.591 a pound, the highest since December 9.
Sentiment on the industrial metal remained upbeat amid ongoing expectations that China will ease its monetary policy in the near-term and provide further stimulus measures to prop up the world’s second largest economy.
Official data released earlier showed that Chinese consumer price inflation rose by a seasonally adjusted 4.1% in December, easing from 4.2% in November.
Global financial service provider Barclays said in a report earlier that Chinese inflation was set to moderate further in coming months and be less of a concern, paving the way for more policy easing as economic growth slows.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group expected copper prices to gain as much as 25% in the second half of 2012, citing steady demand from China and dwindling global supplies.
Data released earlier in the week showed that China’s copper imports in December surged to a record high 508,942 metric tons in December, up nearly 13% from the previous month.
Meanwhile, markets were looking forward to the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later Thursday. The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
Investors also eyed government debt sales from Spain and Italy later in the day, in what was being viewed as a critical test of investor’s appetite for euro zone sovereign debt.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for February delivery rose 0.7% to trade at USD1,650.75 a troy ounce, while silver for March delivery jumped 1.2% to trade at USD30.24 a troy ounce.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for March delivery traded at USD3.587 a pound during European morning trade, gaining 1.15%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.28% to trade at USD3.591 a pound, the highest since December 9.
Sentiment on the industrial metal remained upbeat amid ongoing expectations that China will ease its monetary policy in the near-term and provide further stimulus measures to prop up the world’s second largest economy.
Official data released earlier showed that Chinese consumer price inflation rose by a seasonally adjusted 4.1% in December, easing from 4.2% in November.
Global financial service provider Barclays said in a report earlier that Chinese inflation was set to moderate further in coming months and be less of a concern, paving the way for more policy easing as economic growth slows.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group expected copper prices to gain as much as 25% in the second half of 2012, citing steady demand from China and dwindling global supplies.
Data released earlier in the week showed that China’s copper imports in December surged to a record high 508,942 metric tons in December, up nearly 13% from the previous month.
Meanwhile, markets were looking forward to the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later Thursday. The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
Investors also eyed government debt sales from Spain and Italy later in the day, in what was being viewed as a critical test of investor’s appetite for euro zone sovereign debt.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for February delivery rose 0.7% to trade at USD1,650.75 a troy ounce, while silver for March delivery jumped 1.2% to trade at USD30.24 a troy ounce.