US MIDDAY: copper hits new record top

US copper futures rumbled to a new record top in thin dealings early on Tuesday, propped up by sharp falls in the dollar, a strong Chinese currency and threats of supply disruptions, analysts said. The benchmark fourth month copper contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a record peak of $4.3195 per lb and was trading 2.25 cents up at $4.3025 at 10:20 am EST (1520 GMT).
Volume of business, though, stood at 7,200 lots, well below the 30-day norm of over 42,000 lots, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed.