May copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 3 cents higher 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 rose on short covering, helped by a rally in European and U.S. equities, analysts and traders said. The rise, however, may be short-lived since fundamentals for the metal complex remain weak. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.2805 from $1.2826 late Friday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are up 4.90 points to 774.40. April crude is up 63 cents to $40.66 in overnight activity. U.S. economic reports on Monday include the January Chicago Fed National Activity Index at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT) and the February Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook Survey at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT). In New York Friday, copper futures fell as the Dow industrials extended their multi-year lows and inventories in warehouses affiliated with the London Metal Exchange rose sharply. Still, copper managed to hold above the lower end of its range for the year so far, meaning the metal remained within its several-week consolidation pattern. May copper fell 5.50 cents to settle at $1.4330 Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 950 metric tons Monday, leaving them at 544,650. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Friday afternoon, were up 182 short tons at 42,292 short tons.

Source