Copper zooms near 7-year high on Covid vaccine hopes, fund buying

Copper rallied to its highest in nearly seven years on Thursday on hopes that a vaccine for the coronavirus would galvanise global markets and boost demand for the industrial metal.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.9 per cent to $7,368 a tonne at 6:00 pm (IST), after hitting $7,410 a tonne, its highest since January 2, 2014.

The metal, widely used in power and construction industries, has rallied 77 per cent since its March lows.

"Copper's rise is generally macro driven because of the vaccine and risk sentiment remains upbeat .... We are seeing synchronised gains across all metals,"