By Anna Stablum Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose in London, heading for a weekly advance, after a report of higher business confidence in Germany, the world’s third-largest copper buyer, added to speculation that economic growth will spur demand for metals. The Munich-based Ifo institute’s business climate index for December rose to 94.7, the highest since July 2008. Copper has more than doubled this year as China, the world’s largest copper buyer, had record imports and the Federal Reserve this week said conditions are “more supportive of economic growth.” “There has been a splurge of positive data coming out,” said Daniel Major, an analyst at RBS Global Banking & Markets in London, by phone. “Risk appetite is still reasonably well bid and that has been pretty supportive.” Copper for three-month delivery gained $47.50, or 0.7 percent, to $6,917.50 a metric ton at 10:11 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Prices are up 1.2 percent this week. Copper for March delivery rose 0.6 percent to $3.146 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex unit. The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure against six counterparts, eased as much as 0.4 percent, making dollar-priced commodities cheaper to holders of other monies. The U.S. is the second biggest copper buyer. Rising Stockpiles Copper stockpiles monitored by the LME expanded to 476,350 tons, the most since April 15. Inventories have climbed for 34 days in a row, the longest streak since January 1999, according to data on Bloomberg. Copper stockpiles in Shanghai jumped 9 percent to 104,377 tons, the highest level since Dec. 3, a Shanghai Futures Exchange report showed. The contango, or discount between copper for immediate delivery and the three-month contract, widened to $44 a ton yesterday, the lowest since Nov. 20 last year. A market in contango often signals plentiful supplies. Wider contangos mean “stock financing is starting to look profitable” in metals, Barclays Capital said in a report today. Some 50 percent to 75 percent of aluminum inventories is tied into financing accords, according to research group CRU. LME- monitored aluminum stockpiles rose to a record of 4.64 million tons today. Stockpiles of aluminum in Shanghai climbed 210 tons to 297,308 tons, the exchange said. That’s the highest amount since 2003, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Aluminum rose 1.3 percent to $2,245.75 a ton. Among other LME metals for three-month delivery, tin gained 1 percent at $15,950 a ton after climbing to $16,000, the highest price since Oct. 8, 2008. Nickel rose 0.8 percent to $17,210 a ton, zinc gained 1.6 percent to $2,429.5 a ton and lead eased 0.2 percent to $2,353.5 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Stablum in London at astablum@bloomberg.net

Source