The price of copper was higher Wednesday after China said that its economy will not slow significantly, with the central bank there promising that while growth is expected to slow a bit, there will not be another slide into recession.
September copper was up 4 cents to $3.26 per pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts for the metal used in manufacturing and construction added $106 to $7,165 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange as inventories in LME-monitored warehouses dropped another 2,375 tonnes during the session.
Copper prices were also helped higher on gains in equities markets in Asia, as the Shanghai Composite added over 2 percent to its highest level in two months.
Other base metals prices were mixed, with aluminium adding $123 to $2,056 per tonne while lead added $40.50 to $2,017.50 per tonne and zinc was up $45 to $1,955 per tonne, but tin dropped $25 to $19,525 per tonne and nickel was down $145 to $20,405 per tonne.
August gold added $2.40 to $1,160.40 per troy ounce in New York trade on a limited amount of bargain hunting but September silver fell 19 cents to $17.44 per troy ounce on a decline in US durable goods orders in June.
October platinum was up $4 to $1,541.70 per troy ounce.