China’s stimulus plan sends most metals higher

Metals prices were mostly higher Monday after China announced that it will spend 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) over the next two years on infrastructure development, low-rent housing and rural development.

Three-month copper added $120 to $3,875 per tonne in London and December copper jumped 6 cents to $1.75 per pound in New York on the theory that China’s plans will boost copper demand there.

For the present, however, copper inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses remained on the rise as they grew by 6,050 per tonne on the session and have gained nearly 23,000 tonnes just since the beginning of the month.

Zinc was up by about $10 to trade in a range around $1,100/$1,105 per tonne on the session, while aluminium gained $30 to $1,990 per tonne after its inventories gained another 11,125 tonnes during the day, tin was $75 higher to $14,675 per tonne, and nickel gained $525 to $11,500 per tonne.

Bucking the rising trend, lead prices fell $6 to $1,355 per tonne.

Gold was also helped by China’s spending plans, with December gold up $12.30 to $746.50 per troy ounce in New York while December silver added 26 cents to $10.22 per troy ounce and January platinum gained $7.90 to $859.90 per troy ounce.