December copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 5 cents a pound lower Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up slightly to $1.4538 from $1.4526 late Thursday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 2.40 points to 1,025. November crude oil is down $1.07 to $69.75 a barrel in overnight activity. The main U.S. economic report on the calendar is September non-farm payrolls at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). The forecast is for a decline of 175,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate expected to uptick to 9.8% from 9.7% in August. August factory orders are due out at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) and expected to decline 0.6%. In New York Thursday, copper futures fell sharply, with analysts saying the metal was showing signs of putting in a topping formation while pressured by a stronger dollar and weaker equities. December copper fell 8.20 cents to settle at $2.7370 per pound. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 625 metric tons Friday, leaving them at 345,425. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Thursday afternoon, were up 121 short tons at 53.604 short tons.

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