DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 3 Cents Lower At Pit Open
March copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 3 cents a
pound lower Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Copper and other base metals were pressured in London overnight by a stronger
dollar and weakness in equities, traders said.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is down to $1.2835 from $1.2955 late Thursday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are down 8.80 points
to 834.50. March crude oil is down 24 cents to $41.20 a barrel in overnight
activity.
A heavy slate of U.S. economic data is on the calendar, including:
- advance fourth-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT),
forecast to fall 5.5%;
- the fourth-quarter Employment Cost Index at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT),
expected to be up 0.7%;
- the January Chicago Purchasing Managers Index at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT),
expected to slip to 34.5 from 35.1 in December; and
- the University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index at 9:55 a.m. EST (1455
GMT), forecast to come in at 61.9, the same level as mid-month.
In New York Thursday, weaker equities and another large inventory build
pressured copper futures, pointing to slowing demand for the industrial metal
that was underscored by new bearish macroeconomic forecasts. A rising U.S.
dollar also hurt copper prices, as March copper fell 3.85 cents to settle at
$1.4575 a pound.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 13,850
metric tons Friday, leaving them at 491,525. The most recent Comex inventory
data, released late Thursday afternoon, were steady at 40,240 short tons.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
allen.sykora@dowjones.com
