NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--December copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 7 cents lower on Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In overnight activity, base metals slipped lower on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday on losses in Chinese equity markets and a mildly firmer dollar. The metals were hovering in the middle of their ranges of the past month and looking to the Federal Reserve meeting later Wednesday for direction, traders said. Recently, in other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro was near steady at $1.4783. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures were up 2.7 points. November crude was down 13 cents. U.S. economic reports on Wednesday include Sept. 18 U.S. Energy Department oil inventories at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), with crude oil stocks expected down 1.5 million barrels. The two-Day FOMC meeting continues, with an interest rate announcement expected around 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT). In New York on Tuesday, a weaker U.S. dollar, technical momentum and higher equities boosted copper futures. December copper rose 5.9 cents to settle at $2.8645. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 175 metric tons Wednesday, leaving them at 331,950. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Tuesday afternoon, were up 72 short tons at 53,194 short tons.

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