May copper futures are expected to open floor trading around half a cent higher Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In overnight activity, copper traded higher on the London Metal Exchange Friday as inventories declined, although the metal struggled to break above nearby resistance. Market participants were awaiting key U.S. jobs figures, which could possibly push copper and other metals higher if they come in better-than-expected, traders said. In other markets that have the potential to affect metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.3426 from $1.3464 late Thursday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the June S&P 500 futures are up 2.50 points to 838.00. May crude is down 37 cents to $52.27 in overnight activity. U.S. economic reports on Friday include: - March employment at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with nonfarm payrolls expected down 673,000, the unemployment rate at 8.5% and average hourly earnings up 0.2%; - March ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite Index at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), with the composite index expected at 41.6. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak on the Fed's balance sheet at a Richmond Fed symposium in Charlotte, N.C., at noon EDT (1600 GMT). In New York Thursday, a rally in equities and a lower dollar boosted copper futures along with other commodities. May copper gained 4.1 cents to settle at $1.8900. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 4,825 metric tons Friday, leaving them at 502,150. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Thursday afternoon, were up 247 short tons at 46,723 short tons. Once-a-week data released on Friday's by the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed a weekly decline of 2,273 metric tons to 22,908.

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