industrial metals climbed and copper prices shot to more than one-year highs on thursday, as investors put their trust in president-elect donald trump to spend on u.s. infrastructure. copper for december delivery settled up 3.7% at $2.5510 a pound on the comex division of the new york mercantile exchange, the highest close since july 2015. this built on a more than 3% gain wednesday following the news that the republican nominee had been elected president. <u+201c>rather than being paralyzed with shock or engaging in panicked selling, participants on the metals markets appear to be responding not only calmly but even with downright euphoria to the news of donald trump<u+2019>s election as the new u.s. president,<u+201d> commerzbank ag said. mr. trump has said he would cut taxes and invest more than $500 billion in infrastructure, which could lift demand for metals used for building and manufacturing. <u+201c>if [investors] are taking this at face value, that<u+2019>s going to be good for metals prices,<u+201d> said william adams, head of research at fastmarkets in london. large projects could significantly boost base metals, which have risen swiftly this year after struggling with overcapacity, stockpiles and weakening demand from china, the world<u+2019>s top consumer. copper<u+2019>s surge builds on a multiweek rally, which has lifted prices on expectations of resurgent chinese manufacturing growth and falling stockpiles of the metal in shanghai and london. however, the extended gains have raised questions on the sustainability of copper<u+2019>s recent move higher. <u+201c>this is just extra fuel at the late end of the rally,<u+201d> said mr. adams. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s all gone a bit hot, i think. too hot.<u+201d> analysts were also skeptical that the trump-related gains could be sustained, noting that his protectionist policies could hurt trade with china. natixis <u+2019>s bernard dahdah said the picture would be unclear until january when mr. trump is inaugurated. <u+201c>the things he says, does he mean them or not?<u+201d> the metals analyst asked. thursday<u+2019>s gains weren<u+2019>t limited to copper. <u+201c>sentiment is even more bullish in china<u+2019>s iron ore and steel markets, despite the threat of increasing protectionism in the u.s.,<u+201d> said carsten menke, a commodities research analyst at julius baer. chinese-traded iron ore prices are up almost 17% this week, while steel prices have risen 10%, mr. menke said. the london metal exchange<u+2019>s three-month copper contract closed up 3.4% at $5,601.00 a metric ton. aluminum closed up 1% at $1,770.00 a ton, zinc closed up 1.4% at $2,525.00 a ton, tin rose 1.1% to $21,505.00 a ton and lead rose 0.6% to $2,154.00 a ton. nickel closed down 0.3% at $11,540.00 a ton. <u+2014>stephanie yang contributed to this article. write to katherine dunn at katherine.dunn@wsj.com write to katherine dunn at katherine.dunn@wsj.com
copper prices settle at more than one-year high on trump<u+2019>s infrastructure talk - wsj
katherine dunn