May copper futures are expected to open floor trading at nearly unchanged levels on Wednesday, 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 near steady at $1.2582 compared to $1.2583 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are up 3.90 points to 789.30. March crude oil is down 10 cents to $34.83 a barrel in overnight activity. U.S. economic reports and events on the calendar Wednesday include: - January housing starts at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), forecast to fall 4.9% to an annualized rate of 523,000 units; - January import prices at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), forecast to fall 3.1%; - January industrial production at 9:15 a.m. EST (1415 GMT), expected to be down 1.7%, while capacity utilization is forecast at 72.3%, down from 73.6% the prior month; - Federal Chairman Ben Bernanke addresses the economic outlook in Washington at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT); and - release of the minutes of the January Federal Open Market Committee at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT). In New York on Tuesday, ongoing concerns about the global economy after soft data in the U.S. and abroad, coupled with persistent worries about the global banking sector, sent copper futures to a two-week low. May copper fell 11.20 cents to settle at $1.4425 per pound. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 1,125 metric tons Wednesday, leaving them at 525,300. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Tuesday afternoon, were up 405 short tons at 41,752 short tons.

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