London Metal Exchange copper futures closed at $ 5,725 a ton on Friday, having earlier peaked at $ 5,830 and versus Thursday’s close of $ 5,778.

Gold briefly got closer to $ 600 an ounce after hitting a 25-year high on Friday, but it erased gains in late trading as a rally in the dollar and softer oil prices prompted some investors to book profits.

Silver also climbed to new highs not seen in more than 22 years before a light sell-off weighed on the gray metal.

Gold prices fell as much as 2.2 percent from an intra-day high of 8 and were quoted at $ 588.00/588.90 an ounce, down from $ 594.80/595.70 in New York late on Thursday.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange’s COMEX division, benchmark May copper eased 0.60 cent to end at $ 2.6405 a lb, after dealing from $ 2.5865 to another life-of-contract peak at $ 2.6570, its eighth straight in eight sessions.

Spot April lost 0.60 cent to finish at $ 2.6705, slightly below Thursday’s all-time spot record at $ 2.6770.

"This market has become so Pavlovian that every time it goes down 2, 3, or 6 cents, there are people down there with money saying, ‘I want to buy this,’ so the next thing you know, it’s running into a big cushion and anyone who shorted it has to cover," said one broker at a futures commission merchant.

Copper’s inexorable journey higher has confounded users, producers and market commentators. The red metal, used widely in construction and electronics, has gained some 24 percent over the past month alone and is up 30 percent since the end of 2005.

"It is really difficult to find a bearish fundamental argument for the sector, apart from the fact that prices really are exceptionally high and at unsustainable levels," said Neil Buxton, managing director of UK-based GFMS Metals Consulting.

"While six months ago, the idea of $ 6,000 copper would have you taken away by people wearing white coats, now it’s conventional wisdom and such is the momentum, it is probably going to get there."

Mining equities were less exuberant on Friday, with the world’s number one BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both down over 2 percent.

On Thursday, gains in the sector helped push Britain’s leading share index, the FTSE 100 , to a fresh five-year high.

Copper prices have risen on strong demand and tight supply after years of under-investment in new mining projects, and as more funds have diversified from lower performing assets such as equities and treasuries.

This wave of money has taken most commodity prices to their highest in decades, if not ever: gold is hovering just below $ 600/oz, its firmest in 25 years, while silver is near a 22-year peak and platinum has hit record peaks.

"There are times when even seasoned observers are truly in shock and awe at the rapid rate at which events unfold. The last two/three weeks in copper have been such a time," Maqsood Ahmed, senior metals analyst at Calyon, said in a weekly report.

LME copper inventories fell another 625 tonnes to 113,300 on Thursday, equivalent to just over two days of global consumption. Three years ago, LME copper stocks were about 800,000 tonnes.

The copper market was also supported by a bullish tone from a key copper conference, sponsored by CRU Group, in Chile.

China’s huge appetite for copper to serve its construction, power and auto industries is expected to continue into the foreseeable future and drive prices even higher, industry leaders said Thursday.

GFMS’ Buxton also noted signs of economic recovery in Japan and Europe — both important copper consumers — that could add fuel to the fire.

"Consumers are still buying, albeit maybe reluctantly, because the underlying demand for their products is still strong," he said.