July copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 5 cents a pound higher Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A weaker U.S. dollar helped copper and other base metals extend the prior day's gains, said Leon Westgate, analyst with Standard Bank. Sentiment also was helped by better-than-expected Japanese industrial production, which was up 5.2% in April, compared to expectations of 3.3%. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.4124 from $1.3942 late Thursday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the June S&P 500 futures are up 6.90 points to 911.90. July crude oil is up $1.06 to $66.14 a barrel in overnight activity. U.S. economic reports on the calendar Friday include: - preliminary first-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), expected to be down 5.5%; - the May Chicago Purchasing Managers Index at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 GMT), expected to uptick slightly to 42 from 40.1 the prior month; and - the University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index at 9:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT), expected to end May around 67.9, same as in the middle of the month. In New York Thursday, copper futures rose with other commodities Thursday but overall had a quiet session as prices remained within their recent range. July copper rose 1.60 cents to settle at $2.1370 per pound.

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