London copper rose more than 2 percent on Thursday to a record high after the latest Chinese data showed consumer inflation above expectations, a modest fall in domestic output and strong retail sales and investment. Benchmark third-month Shanghai copper jumped 3.6 percent to 69,690 yuan, its strongest since March 2006, while the discount for metal in China collapsed from almost 900 yuan on Wednesday to a small premium, the first time the arbitrage window has opened since late August.
Shanghai copper closed at 68,750 yuan, up 1,460 yuan on the day. China's refined copper output ticked down 0.2 percent on the month, at 400,000 tonnes, according to data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics.