LONDON/SINGAPORE: Copper rose on Friday after a strong Chinese manufacturing sector survey and was set for its biggest weekly gain in six on growing signs of economic stability in the world's top metals consumer. China's manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in 18 months in October, an official survey showed, while a private sector report showed a jump in new export orders. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had gained 0.4 percent to $7,275 a tonne by 1057 GMT, erasing losses of about half a percent in the previous session. "We had the slightly better PMI overnight which saw copper go up $20 in an instant on the back of that," Marex Spectron analyst Vicky Sanders said. The People's Bank of China also injected a net 29.1 million yuan ($4.8 billion) into money markets this week, easing tight credit conditions. This also helped underpin base metals prices, Sanders said. Copper prices struck a one-week peak at $7,300 on Thursday but remain within a $7,000-7,420 band in place since early August. The metal finished October down around 1 percent. In the United States, business activity in the Midwest surged past expectations in October as new orders hit their highest level since 2004, countering recent evidence of soft economic growth. This fuelled the dollar, tempering gains in commodities by making them more expensive for holders of other currencies. Reflecting expectations of robust copper demand next year, Pan Pacific Copper, a unit of JX Holdings Inc, set 2014 copper premiums for Chinese buyers mostly at $123, up 45 percent from this year, a spokesman at the company said on Friday.

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