Copper climbs

Sydney/Melbourne: London copper climbed on Wednesday, supported by healthy demand growth expectations and relief from a stronger dollar, while markets looked ahead to policy announcements from China´s Communist Party conference.

"China´s underlying demand for copper remains stable and solid," said Hong Kong-based broker Argonaut Securities. There has been stable demand from China´s power sector, and strong demand from its auto and electronic sectors, which has offset a slight slowdown in construction, and weak demand from the home appliance sector, it said.

More broadly, a pickup in global manufacturing has also brightened the demand outlook, analyst Helen Lau said. "(A) synchronized PMI expansion, especially in the US, Europe and Japan points to a rosy demand recovery outlook, positive for copper demand."