BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 1 Cent Higher At Pit Open
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)-September copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 1 cent higher Thursday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In overnight activity, base metals pulled back in relatively quiet trade on the London Metal Exchange despite a stronger dollar and higher oil prices.
Losses on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, lower equity markets and a record drop in euro-zone industrial orders prompted profit-taking on some of Wednesday's strong gains.
In other markets that have the potential to affect metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.3951 from $1.3929 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the September S&P 500 futures are up 2.70 points to 900.70. August crude is up 80 cents to $69.47 in overnight activity.
U.S. economic reports on Thursday include:
-- June 20 jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with weekly claims expected down 3,000 at 605,000.
-- First quarter final GDP at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), expected -5.7%.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) is scheduled to testify in Washington on the Merrill Lynch acquisition by Bank of America Corp. (BAC).
In New York Wednesday, copper futures continued to rally on stronger-than-expected durable- goods data, with funds buying the metal as the market shrugged off soft housing numbers. September copper gained 6.9 cents to settle at $2.2810.
Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 3,450 metric tons Thursday, leaving them at 271,600. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Wednesday, were down 295 short tons at 59,765 short tons.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2139; matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
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