By Millie Munshi Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Copper futures rose for a second day as a weaker dollar and higher oil prices renewed demand for the metal as a hedge against inflation. The dollar fell to a six-week low against the euro today, dropping as much as 1.9 percent. Crude oil traded in New York added as much as 5.7 percent. Some traders buy commodities to hedge against rising consumer costs. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials jumped as much as 1.4 percent today. “A weaker dollar and firmer crude prices are helping sentiment,” Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global Ltd. in Darien, Connecticut, said in a report today. Copper futures for March delivery added 0.45 cent, or 0.3 percent, to $1.50 a pound at 9:44 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price rose 3.6 percent yesterday. The metal also climbed today after a plan to help U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC passed an initial vote in Congress last night. Passage in the House of Representatives moves the measure to the Senate for a vote. The average car uses about 50 pounds of copper tubing and wire. Before today, copper prices tumbled 51 percent this year as the global recession slashed demand from automakers, manufacturers and builders. On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months was unchanged at $3,305 a metric ton ($1.50 a pound). To contact the reporter on this story: Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net.

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