DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 3 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 3 cents lower Monday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit
session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In overnight activity, base metals were mostly lower as profit-taking by
shorts slowed and as the dollar strengthened. Analysts said the metals may
resume last week's rally in coming days because of the annual re-weighting of
commodity index funds, although few expected the rallies to last.
U.S. economic reports on Monday include November construction spending at 10
a.m. EST (1500 GMT), with new construction expected down 1.2%.
In New York Friday, the combination of follow-through buying and anticipation
of new fund buying early in the New Year enabled copper futures to rally to
their strongest level in two and a half weeks on the first trading day of 2009.
March copper settled 5.10 cents higher at $1.4610 per pound.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 1,500
metric tons Monday, leaving them at 342,050. The most recent Comex inventory
data, released late Friday afternoon, were unchanged at 34,514 short tons.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959;
matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
