COPPER

India gold futures rose by more than half a percent on Wednesday to hit their highest level in two weeks on firm global leads fanned by a weaker rupee at home.

European telecoms lobbying group ECTA urged EU regulators on Monday to cut fees charged by dominant operators for access to copper wire networks, arguing such firms enjoyed unfair subsidies.

Stocks surged about three percent on Monday on hopes that fresh proposals may emerge out of Europe to help solve the region's debt crisis.

Australia's Newcrest Mining was assessing damage from a rock slip that was blocking access to part of its Cadia gold and copper mine, one of the largest of its kind in Australia.

Chilean miner Antofagasta posted a 28 percent rise in nine-month profit, lifted by improved production and an increase in gold sales that helped offset bad weather and an accountancy hit after copper prices fell steeply in the third quarter.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa says his government is within days of signing contracts with mining companies set to develop large copper and gold projects in the mineral-rich Andean nation.

The Austrian banking system is on fire: getting singed not only by the heat of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, but also by the immolation of an Eastern European asset bubble the banks had been underwriting for a decade. Stumbling, contradictory guidance from the management of several banks has not helped either. And a stalling Austrian economy is only likely to make things worse

Chinese group Minmetals Resources has extended its $1.3 billion takeover offer for Africa-focused Anvil Mining to December 9, to allow more time to resolve a dispute over contracts with Congo which threatens to scupper the whole deal.

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold and its Indonesian union are discussing a possible pay deal to end a three-month strike that has crippled output from the world's second biggest copper mine, which would double pay for some skilled workers.

World stocks hit their lowest in six weeks on Wednesday and crude prices fell after and manufacturing in regional heavyweight Germany contracted for a second straight month in November, and at a faster rate, as export demand slumped.

Mining company Magma Metals Ltd said it plans to spin off its West Australian gold projects into a new exploration company, to focus on its platinum-palladium-copper-nickel project in Ontario.

Anglo Asian Mining plans to produce first gold from the Gosha mine in Azerbaijan in the first half of 2013 after the successful launch of production at the neighbouring Gedabek mine, the company said on Wednesday.

Canadian stocks looked set to open slightly higher on Tuesday, in line with stronger commodity prices, though there were signs the respite from worries over U.S. and European government debt could be temporary.

Asian shares edged down Tuesday as fears about the ability of politicians on either side of the Atlantic to tackle huge debt burdens sapped investors' confidence in the outlook for Western economies.

The reclusive copper mining heiress Huguette Clark, who died in May at the age of 104, left her estranged family with almost nothing, instead, electing to remit most of her fortune to her closest friend—her nurse.

India gold futures, which traded flat on Monday, are likely to fall this week in tandem with equities, and as traders book profits from last week's peak. Silver may fall 2.5 percent to their lowest level.

Toronto's main stock market index closed lower on Wednesday as a new wave of fears about Europe's debt crisis hurt miners and banking shares, offsetting gains in the oil and gas sector.

Striking union workers at Freeport Indonesia's giant Grasberg copper mine are sticking to pay demands for $7.50 an hour, a wage request deemed excessive by the U.S. miner's chief executive.

Shares of Novagold rose 13.4 percent on Wednesday morning after the mining exploration company said it is exploring a possible sale of its 50 percent stake in the big Galore Creek copper/gold project in northwestern British Columbia.

Canadian stocks looked set to open lower on Wednesday along with commodities on investor fear of contagion from the weakest debt-ridden euro zone economies such as Greece into bigger ones such as Italy, Spain and even France.

Striking union workers at Freeport Indonesia's giant Grasberg copper mine are sticking to pay demands for $7.50 an hour, pouring cold water on government claims that they are nearing a deal to resolve the country's longest-running mining dispute.