Copper climbed on Thursday to its highest level in 20 months, as strong manufacturing data in Asia, Europe and the United States bolstered demand prospects on the first day of the second quarter.

Copper for May delivery HGK0 on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division settled up 3.05 cents at $3.5840 per lb. May copper peaked at $3.6060 per lb, a high for the second-position contract on a continuation basis since early August 2008.

On the London Metal Exchange, benchmark copper CMCU3 ended at $7,885 a tonne from $7,780 at Wednesday's close.

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