A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom

Westbrook

Copper and gold made record highs in Asia trade on Monday

and silver surged over $30. The breakout gains were all the more

noteworthy while bonds and currencies settled into ranges and

with uncertainty rather than optimism on the outlook.

World stocks, meanwhile, were parked just below last week's

record peak.

Gold's 18% rally over the year to date has been attributed,

variously, to Chinese buying, global political tension and

expectations that U.S. rates will start to fall soon, seen as a

boon for a metal that does not pay a yield at all.

Copper is soaring on China's strongest efforts yet to dig

its property market out of a funk.

On Friday, officials promised a trillion yuan in funding for

affordable housing and redevelopment and said local governments

would step in as buyers. Much is unclear, such as the effect on

real estate prices, and developer stock prices wobbled through

Monday.

But the macro signal has been enough to put the blowtorch on

copper short sellers.

Last week Reuters reported that traders Trafigura and IXM

were looking for physical copper to deliver against large short

positions in Chicago futures. Trading volumes have spiked in

Shanghai and London and silver is along for the ride,

gaining 3% in Asia to shoot over $30 an ounce.

On Monday, oil prices made no immediate reaction to reports

of a helicopter crash which an Iranian official said killed

Iran's president and foreign minister.

The week ahead is light on top-tier data but holds

preliminary PMI figures, minutes from the Federal Reserve and

Nvidia earnings along with a number of policymaker speeches,

led by Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson on Monday.

Bonds rallied and the dollar fell last week after U.S.

inflation slowed, as expected. But Treasuries retraced, and

yields rose on Friday, while the dollar found some support as

investors wait for more data to chart economic outlook.

Minutes from the Fed this week and Australia's central bank

will likely show central bankers are playing for time.

Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:

Speeches: Fed's Jefferson, Riksbank's Jansson and Thedeen,

BoE's Broadbent

(Writing by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Sam Holmes)