Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ended its bet on higher zinc prices for the December 2012 futures contract, after it exceeded its 12-month target yesterday.

The 18 percent increase in prices on the London Metal Exchange since the buy recommendation on Dec. 19 was largely because of improved economic data from Europe, China and the U.S., Max Layton, an analyst at Goldman, wrote in a report dated today.

“While we continue to believe that an end to de-stocking in Europe and Chinese policy easing will lend support to metals from current levels on a six to 12-month view, LME zinc is now trading around the top end of the cost curve, which, given the market is expected to register a modest surplus in 2012, suggests that upside is limited from here, especially in the short term.”