DJ BASE METALS: Comex Copper Seen 6 Cents Higher At Pit Open
December copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 6 cents a
pound higher Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session
on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Copper and other base metals on the London Metal Exchange rose in overnight
trading, buoyed by short covering in copper as Shanghai metal prices rallied
ahead of an upcoming week-long Chinese holiday and as traders executed their
last trades before the end of the month, analysts and traders said.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is up to $1.4663 from $1.4573 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are up 4 points to
1,058.80. October crude oil is up 90 cents to $67.61 a barrel in overnight
activity.
A busy U.S. economic calendar Wednesday includes:
- the September ADP employment report, with private-sector payrolls forecast
to fall 240,000, due out at 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT);
- the final estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EDT
(1230 GMT), with the forecast for a contraction of 1.2%;
- the September Chicago Purchasing Managers Index at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345
GMT), with the headline reading forecast to rise to 52.5 from 50 the prior
month;
- weekly U.S. energy-inventory data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), with crude
oil stocks forecast to rise 300,000 barrels; and
- the August Chicago Fed Midwest manufacturing index, due out at noon EDT
(1600 GMT).
In New York Tuesday, copper futures finished near steady, recovering from
early weakness after a report showing U.S. home prices mostly rose in July and
perhaps some technical buying. December copper futures edged up 0.20 cent to
settle at $2.7290 per pound.
The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Tuesday afternoon, were
up 12 short tons at 53,645 short tons.
Weekly data from the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed that copper stocks
there fell 1,970 metric tons to 96,719. The report is normally issued on
Fridays but came out early before an eight-day holiday starts in China on
Thursday.
