DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 2 Cents Lower At Pit Open
By Matt Whittaker
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)-March copper futures are expected to open floor trading
around 2 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 largely drifted, with some of the metals
rebounding after hefty falls the day before, as sentiment was boosted by higher
equities as the markets awaited interest rate decisions in Europe.
Market participants were watching for interest-rate decisions from the
European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The Bank of England slashed the U.K. Bank rate Thursday by 100 basis points
to 2.0% in a dramatic attempt to buoy up the ailing U.K. economy. The European
Central Bank Thursday announced an unprecedented 75-basis-point cut to its main
monetary policy rate, bringing it down to 2.5%.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is down to $1.2640 from $1.2716 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 4.3
points. January crude is down 70 cents.
U.S. economic reports on Thursday include:
-- Nov. 29 jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), with weekly jobless
claims expected up 11,000 at 540,000;
-- October factory orders at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), with total orders
expected down 5.4%.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 200
metric tons Thursday, leaving them at 292,975. The most recent Comex inventory
data, released late Wednesday afternoon, were up 333 short tons at 17,113 short
tons.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959;
matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
