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London 31/12/2010 - Copper continued its relentless move higher in the final hours of 2010, marking the third consecutive day that the metal has broken records, as a tired dollar and supply disruptions increased the metal’s allure to speculators.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange bulldozed to a fresh record of $9,645 per tonne on Friday morning, parlaying on the bullish momentum that propelled it to record highs in the previous two sessions.

As an asset class, metals have had an extraordinary year.  Tin is this year’s top performer, up 57 percent, while copper and nickel have climbed almost 30 percent since January, and copper and tin have posted all-time highs. Zinc has fallen 5.8 percent, lead advanced 4.4 percent, while aluminium has gained 10 percent.

Supply scarcity in the copper market has underpinned the metal’s rally, with inventories down by a third from earlier this year, while prices are expected to touch five figures in 2011.

Analysts predict that supplies of copper will lag behind demand by 825,000 metric tons next year, almost double this year’s 449,000-tonne shortage.

Positive employment, PMI and home sale figures boosted investor sentiment on Thursday, while the dollar softened against a basket of currencies and China’s yuan gained to its strongest level since 1993 on speculation the central bank will allow the currency to appreciate more next year.