METALS-Demand prospects lift copper to 1-week high


* Copper up about 50 percent since April

* Lead hits more than 16-month high

* Goldman hikes copper price forecast for end-2010
(Recasts; updates with U.S. closing prices, comment. Adds NEW YORK
byline, dateline)


NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Copper prices jumped to their
highest level in more than a week on Tuesday, ending strong after
expectations of improving economic and demand growth in coming months
buoyed the metal, but analysts said their future direction would
depend on Chinese buying.


LEAD BALLOONS

Lead closed at $2,455 a tonne, versus Monday's last bid at
$2,350. It has gained more than 30 percent since Aug. 24, when news
of China shutting polluting lead smelters broke. [ID:nHKG368091]

Zinc ended at $1,980 a tonne, up from $1,901. The metal,
used to galvanise steel, can be produced alongside lead and that has
led to concerns about Chinese supplies as well.

Tin closed at $14,880, up from $14,300.

Nickel was at $18,050, up from a last bid of $17,700 on Monday.

Aluminium rose to $1,935 a tonne, the highest since Aug.
24. It ended at $1,895, up from $1,867 on Monday.

The metal, used in transport and packaging, was boosted by news
that China's passenger car sales in August rose more than 90 percent
from a year earlier

"Economic recovery (is) likely to continue to support metals
prices," Goldman Sachs said in a note, in which it hiked its copper
price forecast for end-2010 to $7,650 a tonne from a previous $5,800
a tonne.

* Gold
eased back after breaking through the $1,000 mark for
the first time since February on Tuesday.

* Auto stocks up as Ghosn says financial crisis "behind us"

* Energy shares rise as oil prices around $71 a barrel

Auto stocks climbed after Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn told
daily Le Figaro "the financial crisis is clearly behind us".

	24 Hour Base Metals