Copper prices rose to a ten-month high after a report showed the number of contracts to buy previously occupied US homes rose for a fifth month.
Pending home resales rose 3.6% in June, an industry group announced on Tuesday. Economists forecast a 0.7% gain, the median of 35 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Builders are the biggest US users of copper, putting about 400 pounds (181 kilograms) in the typical home. The metal has soared 98% this year on speculation that global demand will climb.
Copper futures for September delivery jumped 5.7 cents, or 2.1%, to $2.7955 a pound on the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the metal reached $2.799, the highest for a most-active contract since Oct. 2.
Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange gained 1.3% to 285,900 metric tonnes Tuesday, advancing for a third straight session, a possible harbinger of a decline in the price.
On the LME, copper for delivery in three months rose $50, or 0.8%, to $6,050 a tonne ($2.74 a pound). Among other metals traded on the LME, aluminium, zinc and nickel rose, while lead and tin declined.