DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 8 Cents Higher At Pit Open
March copper futures are expected to open floor trading
around 8 cents higher Tuesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit
session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In overnight activity, base metals resumed last week's rally after having
paused Monday.
Demand for metals ahead of the annual reweightings of commodity indexes
continued to underpin the rally, helping the metals shrug off a strengthening
dollar, which rose to a three-week high.
U.S. economic reports on Tuesday include:
-- November pending home sales at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), with the index for
pending home sales expected at -1;
-- December ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite Index at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT),
with the composite index expected at 36.8;
-- November factory orders at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), with total orders
expected down 2.2%.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 1,450
metric tons Tuesday, leaving them at 343,500. The most recent Comex inventory
data, released late Monday, were up 65 short tons at 34,579 short tons.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959;
matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
