Hopes of a coordinated European bailout plan propelled copper futures to end sharply higher Tuesday, with December delivery reaching 15.65 US cents, or 4.5 per cent, to $US3.4395 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Initial data from Thomson Reuters showed copper volumes persisted at advanced levels through last week's selloff and Tuesday's bounce. In New York, close to 72,000 lots were traded, which is more than 50 percent above the 30-day average.
Copper, along with gold and silver, and even crude oil, took a beating in recent weeks due to heightened fears of another global recession. The past weeks saw investors liquidating their assets to turn more into the heightened U.S. dollar that time.
But analysts said buying confidence had regained on Monday when investors saw the European Union and the IMF authorities zealously working to strengthen the region's bailout fund.
