Copper rose for a second day in London after European leaders agreed on a plan to ease the region’s sovereign-debt crisis. A rescue fund’s firepower will be increased to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) and bondholders will accept 50 percent losses on Greek debt under the accord. Prices also climbed before a report that may show the U.S. economy expanded in the third quarter at this year’s fastest pace. “Encouraging headlines on an agreement on measures to find a solution to the euro-zone sovereign-debt crisis seem to be the main driver,” said David Thurtell, head of metals research at Citigroup Inc. in Singapore. Copper for three-month delivery gained $311, or 4.1 percent, to $7,991 a metric ton by 11:36 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Prices are up 12 percent this week, heading for the biggest weekly gain since February 2009. Copper for December delivery rose 3.6 percent to $3.6165 a pound on the Comex in New York. U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter after advancing 1.3 percent in the prior three months, the median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News showed. Durable-goods orders excluding transportation gear rose the most in six months and purchases of new houses gained more than forecast, figures showed yesterday. Short-Covering “The LME continues to receive some encouraging data, and we are thus likely to see more short-covering as the market further absorbs this data,” Thurtell said, referring to purchases of metals to close out bets that prices would drop. The U.S. is the world’s second-biggest copper consumer. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s Peruvian unit said it’s working to reach a wage agreement that is “satisfactory for both parties.” A 28-day strike at the Cerro Verde copper mine hasn’t had a “significant impact” on output, Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde SAA said in a corporate filing. Freeport is the world’s biggest publicly traded copper producer. Aluminum for three-month delivery on the LME rose 1.9 percent to $2,257 a ton, zinc advanced 2.9 percent to $1,909.25 a ton and lead gained 2.9 percent to $1,980.25 a ton. Nickel climbed 3.7 percent to $19,837 a ton and tin increased 2.9 percent to $22,000 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in London at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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