DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 4 Cents Lower At Pit Open
By Matt Whittaker
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--December copper futures are expected to open floor
trading around 4 cents lower Thursday, based on electronic activity ahead of
the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In overnight activity, base metals extended their losses Thursday, dragged
lower by falling equity markets and the strengthening dollar. With global
equity markets in retreat, analysts said sentiment appears to have swung back
to the negative as markets continue to price in slowing global growth.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is down to $1.2857 from $1.2954 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 5.20
points to 952.80. December crude is down $1.04 to $64.26 in overnight activity.
U.S. economic reports on Thursday include:
-- Third quarter preliminary productivity and costs at 8:30 a.m., EST (1330
GMT), with non-farm productivity expected up 0.4% and unit labor costs up 3%;
-- Nov. 1 jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., EST (1330 GMT), with weekly jobless
claims expected unchanged at 479,000.
In New York Wednesday, copper futures sank sharply Wednesday as equities
declined, inventories rose and participants returned to brooding over a bearish
economic outlook now that U.S. elections are over. December copper fell 13.9
cents, or more than 7%, to settle at $1.8190 a pound
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 5,075
metric tons Thursday, leaving them at 252,550. The most recent Comex inventory
data, released late Wednesday afternoon, were unchanged at 9,891 short tons.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959;
matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
