Copper prices add 2 percent on strike vote

Metals prices were higher on Thursday. Among precious metals, gold was 1.1 percent higher to $649.35 per troy ounce as traders waited for the announcement from the US Federal Reserve concerning what it had decided to do about interest rates. Later on, by early afternoon in New York, gold had risen a bit more, to $650.40 per troy ounce. Elsewhere, September silver had added 18 cents in New York to $12.51 per troy ounce, while October platinum was $2.20 higher to trade at $1,286 in New York.

Base metals were higher in London. Copper added 2 percent to $7,530 per tonne on the news that workers at a Chilean mine that produces 440,000 tonnes of copper each year have voted to stage a strike. Lead was 2.3 percent higher to $2.655 per tonne.