Copper Rises After Bernanke Predicts Economic Growth Will Resume

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) –Copper rose, capping the first weekly gain in a month, as investors took assurance from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's prediction that growth will resume in the U.S.

"The growth fundamentals of the United States do not appear to have been permanently altered," Bernanke said today in a speech at an annual forum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "We can reasonably expect to see a return to growth rates and employment levels consistent with those underlying fundamentals." He didn't signal new steps for stimulating growth. The U.S. is the world's largest copper user after China.

"The fact that Bernanke didn't need to act tells people that maybe we are not going to fall into a recession," Adam Klopfenstein, a strategist at MF Global in Chicago, said in an e-mail.

Copper futures for December delivery rose 1.95 cent, or 0.5 percent, to close at $4.1175 a pound at 1:16 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The price gained 2.9 percent for the week, after dropping 11 percent in the previous three weeks on concern the global economic recovery is faltering.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper for three-month delivery added $45, or 0.5 percent, to $9,075 a metric ton ($4.12 a pound).

Aluminum, lead, nickel, tin and zinc also gained in London.


Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) –Copper rose, capping the first weekly gain in a month, as investors took assurance from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's prediction that growth will resume in the U.S.

"The growth fundamentals of the United States do not appear to have been permanently altered," Bernanke said today in a speech at an annual forum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "We can reasonably expect to see a return to growth rates and employment levels consistent with those underlying fundamentals." He didn't signal new steps for stimulating growth. The U.S. is the world's largest copper user after China.

"The fact that Bernanke didn't need to act tells people that maybe we are not going to fall into a recession," Adam Klopfenstein, a strategist at MF Global in Chicago, said in an e-mail.

Copper futures for December delivery rose 1.95 cent, or 0.5 percent, to close at $4.1175 a pound at 1:16 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The price gained 2.9 percent for the week, after dropping 11 percent in the previous three weeks on concern the global economic recovery is faltering.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper for three-month delivery added $45, or 0.5 percent, to $9,075 a metric ton ($4.12 a pound).

Aluminum, lead, nickel, tin and zinc also gained in London.