Copper jumps, heads for biggest quarterly gain in 10 years

Copper prices surged on Tuesday, to move closer to the largest quarterly gain in 10 years, lifted by Chinese demand, supply disruptions and shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Copper was lifted by the global economic reopening measures and the huge stimulus plans to ease the coronavirus impact, which helped copper to rebound from the 4-year low hit in March.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper rose 1.4% to the highest  since Jan. 23 at $6,043.5 per tonne, to score 22% gains in the second quarter, which is the largest since 2010.

The dollar index held against a basket of currencies at 97.5 points as of 13:32 GMT, after it hit a high of 97.8 and a low of 97.3.

Copper September futures rose 1.3% to $2.72 per pound as of 13:26 GMT, after hitting a session-high of $2.73 and a low of $2.69.