Copper rallies to record near $13,000 in London after UK holiday

A weaker dollar has also helped, and the metal is on track for its biggest annual gain since 2009.

Copper reopened in bullish form after a two-day break on the London Metal Exchange, with prices surging nearly 7% to an all-time high.

The metal rose as much as 6.6% to $12,960 a ton after opening on Monday, tracking earlier gains in Shanghai and New York. Futures traded at $12,805.50 a ton by 10:00 a.m. Singapore time.

Investors have piled into copper in December on speculation that huge flows of metal to the US will leave the rest of the world short next year. A weaker dollar has also helped, and the metal is on track for its biggest annual gain since 2009.

Other metals also rose on Monday in London, with aluminum up 0.6% and zinc climbing 0.9%.