DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 1 Cent Higher At Pit Open
March copper futures are expected to open floor trading around one penny per
pound higher Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session
on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is down to $1.2840 from $1.3040 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are up 3.60 points to
834.90. March crude oil is up 94 cents to $41.72 a barrel in overnight
activity.
On the U.S. economic front, the ADP private-sector payrolls forecast is due
out at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT). Expectations are for a decline of 508,000 jobs
during December.
A Treasury quarterly refunding announcement is slated for 9 a.m. EST (1400
GMT), and the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing survey is set
for 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT). The consensus forecast is for the headline index to
slip to 39 in January from 40.1 in December.
Weekly U.S. energy-inventory data - which can affect crude oil, which often
leads metals - are due out at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT). Crude-oil stocks are
forecast to rise by 2.9 million barrels.
In New York Tuesday, copper futures rose with the help of at least some
optimism about the economy, including stronger pending home sales, plus short
covering encouraged by chart-based factors. March copper gained 9.10 cents to
settle at $1.5220 per pound.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose by
4,650 metric tons Wednesday, leaving them at 499,950. The most recent Comex
inventory data, released late Tuesday afternoon, were down 350 short tons at
40,905 short tons.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
allen.sykora@dowjones.com
