Copper recovers on demand hopes

SHANGHAI: Copper paced a gain in industrial metals including zinc as China's economy expanded at the fastest pace since 2007 in the fourth quarter, bolstering optimism that demand will increase in the world's biggest metals user.

Copper for three-month delivery increased as much as 1.7 percent to $7,500 a metric ton after a report showed gross domestic product climbed 10.7 percent from the same period a year ago, more than expected in a Bloomberg News survey. The contract traded at $7,440.25 in afternoon trade in Singapore.

China's record bank loans and $586 billion stimulus spurred raw material demand and helped copper prices more than double last year. Still, the data adds pressure to restrict lending and raise borrowing costs to prevent overheating. Copper pared gains initially after the GDP release, before rising further.