Copper Futures Catch a Bid

Updated from 2:59 p.m. EDT

Copper prices popped up almost 6% Thursday, mostly thanks to news that China's economy has grown faster than forecast so far this year, but boosted also by declining metal inventories.

Prices for May-dated contracts surged 16 cents to $2.99 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The PowerShares DB Base Metals(DBB Quote) exchange-traded fund, which tracks other industrial metals prices as well as copper, rallied more than 3%.

Industrial production in China grew almost 20% in the first two months of the year, according to new government data, besting consensus estimates and helping accelerate the rally in copper which has risen from under $2.40 a pound in early February. ...