the most plausible theory is btc-e administrators pumping their coins as i have seen 5-6 times in the past two years in this community. if you notice PPC, NVC, NMC all had pumps as well. Before you say "well that is LTC profits going into other coins" explain the 800BTC buy wall moving up the PPC orderbook during its pump.
another option is okcoin futures traders accumulating LTC all week long in anticipation of their BTC pump hours before settlement. I can see them taking all that LTC they acquired during the week and 10x shorting it right before they ran the quarterly futures price up to $360. Logic dictates if BTC makes a run everyone will abandon their alts for BTC.
BTW i hope whoever sold all their zeit for LTC held the LTC.