NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--December copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 2 cents lower Tuesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In overnight activity, copper on the London Metal Exchange paused after it shot up 4.6% Monday and market participants said the metal will struggle to rise until inventory levels start to fall and more concrete signs of demand improvements arise. However, at the same time they note the rise in base metals, with copper leading the way, has largely been driven by liquidity coming into the markets and a weak U.S. dollar, so a continuation of those two trends could still support the metals. In recent trading, the euro was up to $1.4976 from $1.4967 late Monday in New York. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures were up 4.9 points. November crude was down 23 cents in overnight activity. U.S. economic reports on Tuesday include: -- September housing starts at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with total starts expected up 2% at 610,000; -- September PPI at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), expected -0.2%. In New York Monday, copper futures extended gains heading into the close to settle sharply higher as participants bought back previously sold positions and the U.S. dollar weakened. December copper rose 12.1 cents, or more than 4.2%, to settle at $2.9665. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 550 metric tons Tuesday, leaving them at 357,275. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Monday, were up 285 short tons at 57,318 short tons.

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