Bloomberg reported that copper rose to a record for a fourth day in London on speculation that signs of growth in the US will support demand for industrial metals.

Economists said before industry and government reports set for release a drop in US factory orders probably slowed in November as vehicle sales climbed. Copper jumped 30% on the London Metal Exchange in 2010 as economies recovered from the deepest recession since World War II.

Mr Daniel Briesemann an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt said “This is a trend that’s going to be hard to stop. Fundamentals are still improving, and there is confidence in the economy.”

Mr Briesemann said Gains may be limited because of rising stockpiles and the potential for investor selling. Hedge funds and other large speculators had net long positions, or bets on higher New York copper futures, equal to 31,802 contracts as of December 28 close to the five-year high of 32,163 contracts a week earlier.

Copper for delivery in three months climbed USD 61 or 0.6% to USD 9,661 per ton by 9:04 AM on the LME after reaching a record USD 9,728 earlier today. In New York, copper for March delivery dropped 0.7% to USD 4.427 a pound on the Comex after recently touching an all-time high of USD 4.498.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)