US home sales data released on Friday gave industrial metals a boost on Monday morning, as renewed confidence in global economic recovery lent strength to commodities across the board. Copper gained 0.7 per cent to $7,816 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, nickel was 1.3 per cent higher at $27,350 a tonne and tin rose 1 per cent to $19,100 a tonne. New home sales surged 26.9 per cent in March, according to data released by the Commerce Department on Friday. The construction sector is one of the main drivers of demand for base metals. A general reawakening of risk appetite pushed other commodities higher, with platinum and palladium recovering some momentum. The precious metals are primarily used in the car industry to make catalytic converters, which clean car exhausts. Spot palladium jumped 1 per cent to $566.50 a troy ounce, while platinum gained 0.1 per cent to $1,742.50 an ounce. Gold, however, slipped 0.2 per cent to $1,154.35 an ounce in morning trading in London. In oil, Nymex June West Texas Intermediate was 10 cents higher at $85.22 a barrel; ICE June Brent, the European benchmark, gained 17 cents to $87.43. Cocoa prices remained tantalisingly close to 33-year highs, with Liffe July cocoa up 0.6 per cent at £2,350 a tonne – just shy of the £2,356 peak hit in January. Improving demand from the confectionery industry has boosted prices of the bean used to make chocolate. Recently released data on cocoa grindings, a measure of demand, showed US cocoa bean processing rose 16 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 from a year earlier. A disappointing crop in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest grower, has also squeezed the market.

Source