New York copper futures roared to record levels early on Tuesday, in a buying frenzy driven by bullish fundamentals and a chart that offers no natural resistance, traders said. At this point, one broker said, the buying is coming more from speculators than funds, because a lot of the funds were already long and just riding copper up.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, benchmark September copper soared to a new contract high at $1.7380 a lb. Then steadied 2.15 cents higher at $1.7290.
Spot August copper set an all-time peak at $1.8025 a lb., then traded up 1.75 cents at $1.7885 percent.
COMEX posted 10 am volume at a healthy 5,000 lots.
While strong supply/demand fundamentals launched the recent uptrend, traders said a lack of chart resistance allowed buyers to create an upside momentum that took on a life of its own.