Copper futures rally as ECB set to reveal bond purchase program

The prospect of the sovereign debt crisis being more forcefully confronted pushed copper futures to their highest rate in more than four weeks on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

The reddish metal benefited from the central bank of Europe's intention to announce a large-scale plan to purchase bonds when its policy makers convene on Thursday. That prospect increased the appetite for riskier assets, such as the industrial metal. The shared currency of the European Union also climbed on Wednesday and copper futures tracked the monetary unit's upward drive.

The European Central Bank is poised to first purchase the debt of Portugal, one of a handful of the countries of the 17-nation bloc that has required bailout aid as a consequence of the sovereign debt crisis attacking its banks, markets and public finance systems.

"The markets have been pumped up on the belief that the ECB will announce at its meeting tomorrow that it will restart its bond buying program to address the spike in borrowing cost in some of the weaker euro zone countries," analyst Robin Bhar with Societe Generale told the news source. "But high expectations also means high potential to disappoint. The next big event will be the Fed meeting next week as there are high hopes that Bernanke will put through more stimulus into the economy too."

At 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday, copper futures climbed 1.51 percent, a 0.0525 cent lift to $3.5215 per pound.

Regarding the globe's largest consumer

Optimism was running high regarding China challenging its slowed growth. The Asian nation accounts for roughly 40 percent of the world's copper demand.

The country already has employed measures such as spending on infrastructure. But some are hoping the country that hosts the globe's second-largest economic system would embark on methods that more strongly address the economic hiccups.

That the reddish metal is projected to be in a deficit this year also pushed up the price of copper.

"Things are cooling down in China but we're still expecting demand growth of 5 percent for copper, in part due to the roll-out of electricity projects. We are expecting copper to outperform other metals over the next six months," analyst Matt Fusarelli with consultancy AME Group of Australia told the news source.

But the ECB and its plan to confront the nearly 3-year-old debt scourge was garnering the most attention.

ECB chief, peers to convene Thursday

The reddish metal, due to its uses in construction, manufacturing and additional industry, is sensitive to worldwide economic and financial developments.

For that reason, the ECB policy maker meeting scheduled for Thursday is being hailed as an opportunity for president Mario Draghi to present details of the purchasing program, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A press conference typically follows ECB meetings.

Draghi last month gave a broad description about purchasing the victimized nations' debt. But now investors are hoping to hear more details.

"All eyes are now on tomorrow's ECB meeting to see if Draghi is ready to divulge his next plan – given how slow policy can roll out in Europe, we feel there is still a risk of disappointment, although lack of concrete plans might be softened by a rate cut," states a note penned by research head William Adams with FastMarkets.com, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Six-week high

The speculation about the ECB program pushed the reddish metal to its highest price in six weeks, Bloomberg reports.

One analyst said copper is spearheading the upward drive of its peers.

"Markets like what they are hearing, with copper in the lead," states a report penned by analyst Edward Meir with INTL FCStone Inc. in New York, according to Bloomberg.