India copper futures are expected to open little changed, but with a positive bias, on Thursday due to a firm London market and a weak rupee, analysts said. "Copper may extend gains to 172 (rupees) today," said Pranav Mer, an analyst with India Infoline in Mumbai. "We expect sideways to positive movement in copper today," said Aurobinda Prasad, a senior technical analyst with Karvy Comtrade in Hyderabad, adding copper may be between 165-172 for the day. The benchmark February contract MCCG9 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) ended 2.5 percent higher at 167.90 rupees per kg. It may open at 168.5 rupees per kg, added India Infoline's Mer. February zinc MZIG9 ended at 56.25 rupees per kg, while lead for February MLDG9 closed at 50.85 rupees per kg. GOLD: Futures are expected to open lower on continued profit-taking, after the metal hit a fresh record high of 16,040 rupees last week, analysts said. "We are expecting sideways to lower movement in gold," said Karvy's Prasad, adding "we won't see substantial fall in gold due to a weak rupee." However, analysts feel that the uptrend in the yellow metal still persists. "Gold could even extend gains to 16,060 later," said BG Manjunath Prasad, a technical analyst with Way 2 Wealth Securities. The benchmark April contract MAUJ9 closed 10 rupees higher at 15,494 rupees per 10 grams. It may open at around 15,460 rupees per 10 grams, and move in the range of 15,200-15,500, said India Infoline's Mer.

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