Copper gains on China news

The price of copper was higher Wednesday after China said that its economy will not slow significantly, with the central bank there promising that while growth is expected to slow a bit, there will not be another slide into recession.

September copper was up 4 cents to $3.26 per pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts for the metal used in manufacturing and construction added $106 to $7,165 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange as inventories in LME-monitored warehouses dropped another 2,375 tonnes during the session.

Copper prices were also helped higher on gains in equities markets in Asia, as the Shanghai Composite added over 2 percent to its highest level in two months.

Other base metals prices were mixed, with aluminium adding $123 to $2,056 per tonne while lead added $40.50 to $2,017.50 per tonne and zinc was up $45 to $1,955 per tonne, but tin dropped $25 to $19,525 per tonne and nickel was down $145 to $20,405 per tonne.

August gold added $2.40 to $1,160.40 per troy ounce in New York trade on a limited amount of bargain hunting but September silver fell 19 cents to $17.44 per troy ounce on a decline in US durable goods orders in June.

October platinum was up $4 to $1,541.70 per troy ounce.