May copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 6 cents lower Monday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In overnight activity, base metals on the London Metal Exchange traded lower in Europe, weighed down by equity market weakness and a stronger U.S. dollar. Traders and analysts said trading could be volatile this week ahead of the G20 meeting in London and the beginning of the second quarter. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.3202 from $1.3287 late Monday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the June S&P 500 futures are down 18.10 points at 798.00. May crude is down $1.48 to $50.90 in overnight activity. U.S. economic reports on Monday include the March Dallas Fed manufacturing outlook survey at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). In New York Friday, copper futures closed modestly lower as the market gave back some of its recent gains on profit taking, with a stronger dollar and lower equities playing a role. May copper fell 1.9 cents to settle at $1.836. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 650 metric tons Monday, leaving them at 501,400. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Friday afternoon, were up 653 short tons at 45,774 short tons.

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