Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Copper advanced to a three-week high in New York on optimism for U.S. economic growth, supporting demand for industrial metals. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last week that the U.S. economy is gradually recovering and that he has the tools to spur growth, boosting demand prospects for the metal. Consumer spending in the U.S. climbed more than forecast in July, showing the biggest part of the economy is holding up. The country is the largest consumer of copper after China. "This week has started with some muted optimism," Christin Tuxen, an analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen, said by phone today. "It seems that the Fed is committed to implement new stimuli, which is something that most of the commodity markets are quite happy about." Copper for December delivery rose 3.75 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $4.147 a pound by 8:13 a.m. on the Comex in New York, rebounding from a 0.2 percent fall yesterday. The metal reached $4.163 earlier today, the highest price since Aug. 5. Copper for delivery in three months gained 0.7 percent to $9,136 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. The market was closed yesterday for a holiday. U.S. personal spending rose 0.8 percent, the biggest gain since February, after a 0.1 percent decline the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed yesterday in Washington. The MSCI World Index of shares gained for a third session, rising as much as 0.6 percent today. Grasberg Mine Copper was also helped by speculation that workers at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s Grasberg mine may strike after talks on wages ended with no agreement. The strike may be called after this week's holiday marking the end of Ramadan, Virgo Solossa, head of organizational affairs at PT Freeport Indonesia's labor union, said Aug. 26. The Grasberg mine in Indonesia has the world's largest recoverable reserves of copper and the biggest gold deposit, according to Freeport's website. World copper demand is set to exceed output by 377,000 tons this year, according to the International Copper Study Group. "Given the tightness in the market that is always something that adds some sort of support," Tuxen said. "But at least for now, it is the overall financial macro picture that is driving most of the base metals." Zinc for three-month delivery on the LME rose as much as 2.4 percent to $2,300 a ton, climbing above its 100-day moving average at about $2,290.44. The metal last traded at $2,284 a ton. Aluminum, lead, nickel and tin also rose in London.

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