Jan. 12 （Bloomberg） -- Copper rose for the second straight day on speculation that support from Japan and China for the European Union will help avoid a drop in metal demand. Nickel prices climbed to an eight-month high.
Japan may extend purchases of bonds sold by a European financial-aid fund, two government officials familiar with the matter said. Yesterday, copper gained 2 percent as Japan said it would follow China, the world’s biggest metal user of the metal, in purchasing debt.
“The prospect of Asian nations engaging in euro-zone bond sales helped momentarily silence concerns about demand,” Marc Elliott, an analyst at Fairfax IS in London, said in a report.
Copper futures for March delivery gained 6.25 cents, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $4.4115 a pound at 1:19 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The price has gained 32 percent in the past 12 months.
Portugal sold 1.25 billion euros （$1.6 billion） of debt before auctions tomorrow by Spain and Italy. Europe’s bailout fund “should be reinforced and the scope of its activity widened,” European Union Economic and Money Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels.
Copper for delivery in three months climbed $180, or 1.9 percent, to $9,690 a metric ton （$4.40 a pound） on the London Metal Exchange.
Nickel rose 4.5 percent, the most since late June, to $25,800 a ton in London. Earlier, the price reached $25,900, the highest since May 4.
Prices gained after six weeks of rains and flooding in Australia boosted demand for the metal.
“With coal supplies getting squeezed due to flooding, the Chinese will have to return to higher-grade steels that utilize refined nickel,” RBC Capital Markets said in a report.
Lead, zinc, tin and aluminum also rose in London.
--Editors: Patrick McKiernan, Daniel Enoch
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