May copper futures are expected to open floor trading around one-half of a cent per pound lower Monday, 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 up to $1.3521 from $1.3483 late Friday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the June S&P 500 futures are down 4 points to 836.60. May crude oil is up 22 cents to $52.73 a barrel in overnight activity. U.S. economic data Monday include the Conference Board's Employment Trends Index at 10 a.m. EDT and Chicago Fed's Midwest Manufacturing Index at noon EDT (1600 GMT). Other major events this week include release of minutes of a Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday, wholesale trade inventories Wednesday, first-time jobless claims, import prices and the trade balance on Thursday, then the federal budget deficit on Friday. In New York Friday, copper futures rallied to a five-month high above $2 a pound as speculators snapped up the metal amid increasing optimism about an economic recovery. May copper rose 11.05 cents, or more than 5.8%, to settle at $2.0005 per pound and hit an intraday high of $2.0130, its strongest point since Oct. 29. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 2,675 metric tons Monday, leaving them at 504,825. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Thursday afternoon, were up 308 short tons at 47,031 short tons.

Source