FXS: BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 14 Cents Lower At Pit Open
BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 14 Cents Lower At Pit Open
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
December copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 14 cents a pound lower Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The slide in copper and other London Metal Exchange base metals continued overnight under the weight of a still-surging U.S. dollar and fears of a global recession, traders there said. A drop in crude prices added to the downward pressure.
In other markets that have the potential to affect metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.2586 from $1.2934 late Thursday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 60 points to 855.20. December crude oil is down $4.66 to $63.18 a barrel in overnight activity.
The main U.S. economic report on the calendar Friday is September existing-home sales at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). The forecast is for a 1.2% rise to an annual rate of 4.97 million units.
In New York Thursday, copper futures extended their recent slide as worries about the global economy persist, although some short covering set in at the lows, analysts said. December copper fell 6.10 cents to settle at $1.8045 per pound.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 2,725 metric tons Friday, leaving them at 211,975. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Thursday afternoon, were steady at 8,578 short tons.
Once-a-week data released on Fridays for the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed a fall of 3,737 metric tons to 31,053.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765; allen.sykora@dowjones.com
