DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 4 Cents Lower At Pit Open
March copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 4 cents a
pound lower Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The metal fell in London overnight due to a continued focus on the soft
global economy and yet another build in warehouse stocks, traders there said.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is up to $1.3207 from $1.3191 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are down 7.50 points
to 861. February crude oil is up $1.12 to $38.90 a barrel in overnight
activity.
U.S. economic data Wednesday include:
- December retail sales at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), forecast to be down
1.2%, while sales excluding autos are expected to be down 1.5%;
- December import prices at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), forecast to fall 6%;
- November business inventories at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), forecast to fall
0.4%; and
- the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT).
Weekly energy-inventory data - which can affect crude oil and have a
spillover on metals - are scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).
In New York Tuesday, copper futures turned higher late in the session after
bouncing from chart support, with the metal helped by a recovery in crude oil
plus ideas that mining companies may rein in new investment during soft
economic times and low metals prices, analysts said. March copper rose 5.85
cents to settle at $1.5470 per pound.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 7,300
metric tons Wednesday, leaving them at 382,150. The most recent Comex inventory
data, released late Tuesday afternoon, were up 43 short tons at 35,300 short
tons.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
allen.sykora@dowjones.com
