US copper rose to a third successive record high on Monday, extending last year's 33 percent gain on quickening US manufacturing growth and a slow-down in China that tempered fears of further rate rises. COMEX copper for March delivery settled up 1.05 cents at $4.4575 per lb, after dealing between $4.4315 and a new all-time high at $4.4980.
Volumes was thin with both London and Shanghai markets shut, with a little more than 17,000 lots traded on COMEX, about 50 percent below the 30-day average, according to Thomson Reuters preliminary data.