LONDON: Copper prices pushed to the strongest levels since March 2013 on Friday as U.S. politicians moved closer to agree on long-awaited stimulus spending that would boost the economy.Copper has regularly hit new multi-year highs and shares touched record levels over the past week, boosted by news about the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and robust data about China's economic recovery U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday there was momentum behind talks on a coronavirus relief bill while U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said a grim jobs report underscored the need for urgent action. "The U.S. stimulus news has definitely helped risk appetite, which has been strong ever since the good news about vaccines," said Samuel Burman, assistant commodities economist at Capital Economics. "We think industrial metals prices will hold steady for the next couple of months, supported by this investor risk appetite and also by the strong economic activity out of China. "Noticeably SHFE open interest has now fallen 5,600 lots over the past two sessions on apparent long liquidation. "LME aluminium gained 0.9% to $2,046 a tonne, zinc inched up 0.02% to $2,756.50, nickel jumped 2.8% to $16,400, and tin added 0.3% to $18,960.

Source: Economic Times December 05, 2020 14:55 UTC