DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 1 Cent Higher At Pit Open
By Matt Whittaker
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--December copper futures are expected to open floor
trading around 1 cent higher Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the
pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In overnight activity, a weaker dollar against the euro and a rebound in
Asian and European stock markets boosted base metals Friday, ending a two-day
slide. Sentiment remains poor though, with little relief seen on the horizon as
the global economy slides into a recession, analysts said.
In markets that have the potential to have an impact on metals in the short
term, the euro rose to $1.2789 from $1.2711 late Thursday. In screen trading
ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are up 11.90 points to
916.40. December crude is up $1.39 at $62.16 in overnight activity.
U.S. economic reports on Friday include:
-October employment data at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), with non-farm payrolls
expected down 200,000 and the unemployment rate expected at 6.3%;
-September wholesale trade numbers at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), expected up
0.4%;
-September pending home sales at 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT), with the index
for pending home sales expected -3.7%;
-September consumer credit at 3 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT), with consumer credit
outstanding expected up $1 billion.
In New York Thursday, continued fretting about a worsening economic malaise
sent copper futures lower. December copper fell 9.35 cents, or 5.1%, to settle
at $1.7255
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 2,250
metric tons Friday, leaving them at 254,800. Once-a-week data released on
Friday's by the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed a weekly decline of 151 metric
tons to 24,637. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Thursday
afternoon, were unchanged at 9,891 short tons.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959;
matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
