Copper Rises Most in Four Weeks as Weaker Dollar Lifts Demand

Copper rose the most in four weeks in New York as the dollar slumped, boosting demand for metals as an alternative investment. Aluminum reached the highest since August 2008 inLondon.

The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, fell as much as 1 percent to the lowest level since December 2009. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials gained the most in almost three weeks, led by advances in silver, sugar and nickel. The six base metals trading on the London Metal Exchange all climbed.

“It’s partly on dollar weakness and gradual recovery of sentiment after the shock developments we had on Monday,” said Stephen Briggs, a London-based analyst at BNP Paribas SA. Copper reached a one-month low on April 18 after Standard & Poor’s put a “negative” outlook on the AAA credit rating for the U.S., the second-largest user of the metal.

Copper futures for July delivery rose 11.05 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $4.359 a pound at 1:14 p.m. on the Comex in New York, the biggest gain for the most-active contract since March 23.

Before today, copper jumped 21 percent in the past year, reaching an all-time high of $4.6575 on Feb. 15.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), the world’s biggest publicly traded copper producer, raised its 2011 sales forecast as the industrial metal traded close to a record.

The outlook for copper is “extremely positive” as the global economic recovery strengthens, Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson said today on an earnings conference call. “The world is going to need copper.”

On the LME, copper for three-month delivery climbed $240, or 2.6 percent, to $9,580 a ton ($4.35 a pound).

Aluminum rose $16, or 0.6 percent, to $2,730 a metric ton, after reaching $2,745, the highest since Aug. 29, 2008.

Lead, zinc, nickel and tin also rose in London.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-20/copper-advances-for-a-second-day-lifted-by-slumping-dollar.html)