Copper rose in London and aluminum climbed to almost a one-month high as a rally in global equities eased concern that the recession is set to deepen and reduce metals demand. The MSCI World Index posted its biggest gain since November, ending four weeks of losses, as Bank of America Corp. said it was profitable and Japan and China signaled they would increase efforts to boost economic growth. “Copper is up on the back of equity markets,” John Meyer, head of research at Fairfax IS in London, said by phone. The metal for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange gained $100, or 2.8 percent, to $3,681 a metric ton at 9:50 a.m. local time, cropping this week’s reverse to 1.2 percent. The metal, used in plumbing and electrical wiring, also gained as yesterday’s better-than-expected U.S. retail sales for February indicated the biggest part of the world’s largest economy may be starting to stabilize. Copper inventories in LME- monitored warehouses fell today to the lowest level in a month. “Copper has the biggest upside potential, if demand were to improve, given the chronic supply issues plaguing the existing production,” Credit Suisse Group analysts including Eily Ong wrote in a report today. Aluminum rose $30, or 2.2 percent, to $1,370 a ton, after hitting an intraday peak of $1,375, the highest since Feb. 16. Inventory Increases Slow “Aluminum prices may have already touched bottom or are fairly close to it,” Laredo, Texas-based research company Harbor Intelligence said in a report. The contract slumped to a seven- year low of $1,279 on Feb. 24. LME-monitored stockpiles of the lightweight metal, employed in industries from packaging to aerospace, climbed 1.8 percent this week, the slowest gain since the week ended Nov. 7. Inventories have more than tripled in a year, to a record 3.36 million tons. “U.S. aluminum demand could bottom any time within the next three months,” the report said. “There is a significant chance that the daily oversupply could be over before May ends if aluminum output cuts occur as expected.” The number of announced cutbacks represents 12.7 percent of global aluminum supply, Credit Suisse said. South Korea Copper inventories in LME warehouses fell 3.7 percent this week, the biggest decline since September. They’ve slid about 8 percent since Feb. 25. LME stockpiles in South Korea, the closest location to China, have fallen for 16 straight days and are down by half since the start of the year. The metal has gained 20 percent in 2009 in London trading. Shanghai copper stockpiles declined from a seven-month high by 9.7 percent to 34,735 tons this week, the Shanghai Futures Exchange said in a report on its Web site. Lead for three-month delivery rose $18, or 1.5 percent, to $1,255 a ton. The metal, used mainly in vehicle batteries, has added 26 percent this year, the most among the six main metals traded on the LME. Three-month tin traded 0.3 percent higher at $10,425 a ton, zinc rose 1.6 percent to $1,245 a ton and nickel added 2.6 percent to $9,700 a ton.

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