Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed to an all-time high of $10,747.50 a tonne after first breaking through a decade-old record on Friday.
It pared gains and was up 0.5% at $10,470 a tonne by 1345 GMT.
“Momentum is king, it’s a hot potato right now, and a lot of investors are looking at the market with despair if they’re not involved and they’re looking to get involved,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.
Speculators were gunning for the next round number and targeting $11,000, while some physical users who had been waiting for lower prices were throwing in the towel, he added.
“A buyers’ strike can only work for so long, so at some point you just have to capitulate and get back into the market.”
Other players were caught short in the options market and were covering their positions, Alastair Munro at Marex said in a note.
Copper also hit a record high on the Shanghai Futures Exchange as the most-traded June copper contract closed up 4.8% to 77,720 yuan ($12,094.62) a tonne.
Bullish investors bet that demand for copper will increase further as the world economy recovers from COVID-19 and as investments into green energy sectors ramp up, while prices were also supported by tight supply in the concentrate market.
