DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 3 1/2 Cents Lower At Pit Open
March copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 3 1/2 cents a
pound lower Tuesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Copper and other base metals are drifting in illiquid pre-Christmas trading
conditions, London-based analysts said. The near-term focus may be on the
performance of the dollar, they added.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is up to $1.4001 from $1.3944 late Monday afternoon. In screen trading
ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are up 1.10 points to 872.10.
February crude oil is up 9 cents to $40 a barrel in overnight activity.
U.S. reports scheduled for release Tuesday include:
- final third-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT),
with the forecast for a contraction of 0.6%;
- University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index at 9:55 a.m. EST (1455
GMT), with the forecast for a 59.1 reading, the same as in the middle of the
month;
- November existing-home sales due out at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), expected to
be down 1.6% to an annualized rate of 4.9 million units; and
- November new-home sales due out at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), expected to fall
4.2% to an annual rate of 415,000.
In New York Monday, copper futures finished with a slight gain, helped by a
weaker U.S. dollar and general short covering in some of the base metals,
traders and analysts said. March copper edged up 1.90 cents to settle at
$1.3455 per pound.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 700
metric tons Tuesday, leaving them at 328,200. The most-recent Comex inventory
data, released late Monday afternoon, showed a boost of 3,692 short tons to
29,731 short tons.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
allen.sykora@dowjones.com
