DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen Steady At Pit Open
March copper futures are expected to open floor trading around steady Friday,
based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of
the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The London Metal Exchange remains shuttered following Christmas.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is up to $1.4065 from $1.4013 late Wednesday afternoon prior to the
Thursday Christmas closure in North America. In screen trading ahead of the pit
open, the March S&P 500 futures are down 3.55 points to 816.20. February crude
oil is up 89 cents to $36.24 a barrel in overnight activity.
No U.S. economic reports are on the calendar for Friday.
In New York Wednesday, copper futures held in an unusually narrow range in
quiet pre-Christmas trading, moving little since volume was almost
non-existent, although analysts continue to describe sentiment as weak at the
moment. March copper fell 0.70 cent to settle at $1.2740 per pound.
Once-a-week inventory data released on Fridays for the Shanghai Futures
Exchange showed a fall of 2,866 metric tons to 15,326. The most recent daily
Comex data, released late Wednesday afternoon, were steady at 31,083 short
tons.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
allen.sykora@dowjones.com
