The base metals were all in positive territory on Tuesday. Except for a mid-morning lull, copper advanced from the pre-dawn hours straight through the day, barely coming off its intraday highs late to finish at $1.8167/lb., up more than 8 1/3 cents.

The base metals were mixed on Wednesday. Copper bottomed in the pre-dawn hours, then was up through most of the day, finishing at $3.9472/lb., up almost 2¼ cents.