Copper futures supported by oil price gains, demand hopes

Copper futures in Shanghai rose on Friday due to rising oil prices as well as investors' hopes for growing demand from China.

The most-traded copper contract for April on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) finished at 41,670 yuan ($6,671.84) per ton, up 670 yuan from Thursday. The trading volume declined by 51,096 lots Friday from the previous trading session's 573,146 lots.

The contract's price was up 2,580 yuan or 6.60 percent compared to the previous Friday, January 30.

"Base metals were stronger as the rise in oil prices helped lift most metals," according to a research note sent to the Global Times Friday by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

However, gains were limited as investors were awaiting key US employment data for signs of rising demand in the second-largest global consumer of industrial metals, the note said.

US job growth increased solidly in January, Reuters reported Friday. US nonfarm payrolls increased by 257,000 in January, better than previous expectations, and wages rose 12 cents in January after falling 5 cents in December, the report said.

Meanwhile, investors are expecting a better outlook for China's economy as well as growing demand from the world's largest copper consumer.

"We expect global demand for copper to remain robust. Chinese demand for copper is expected to benefit from stimulus policies, especially in those industries related to green energy - for example, renewable power [and] electric vehicles," Reuters quoted Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis, as saying.