the outbreak has hurt economic activities in china the worlds top consumer of metals copper prices advanced on wednesday amid hopes of more stimulus measures from china to support an economy hurt by the coronavirus outbreak while sentiment was also lifted as the number of new infections dipped for a second straight day chinas national health commission reported 1749 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections the lowest daily rise since jan 29 the death toll however passed 2000 the outbreak has hurt economic activities in china the worlds top consumer of metals firms in hubei province the epicentre of the outbreak will not have to pay pensions jobless and workinjury insurance until june while a bloomberg report citing sources said china is considering cash injections or mergers to bail out airlines advt read alsonickel edges up copper trades lower in futures trade a base metal trader said these measures lifted market sentiment and appetite for riskier assets threemonth copper on the london metal exchange lme was up 06 at 580750 a tonne as of 0540 gmt while the most traded copper contract on the shanghai futures exchange shfe advanced 04 to 46300 yuan 660843 a tonne reuters published on feb 19 2020 at 0910 pm ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert our moderators to take actions reasons for reporting foul language defamatory inciting hatred against a certain community out of context spam others report join the community of 2m industry professionals subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights analysis download etauto app get realtime updates save your favourite articles scan to download app copper prices copper demand auto parts coronavirus raw materials homenewsauto componentscopper rises on china stimulus hopes drop in virus cases