December copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 4 cents a pound lower 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 in London fell in reaction to a softer euro and equities, with the move described by traders there as consolidation rather than the start of a bigger correction. Some bargain hunting emerged on the retreat. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.4767 from $1.4802 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 6.10 points to 1,054.30. December crude oil is down 74 cents to $78.81 a barrel in overnight activity. U.S. data on the calendar for Wednesday include: - September durable-goods orders at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), forecast to rise 1.5%; - September new-home sales at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), expected to be up 2.6% to an annual rate of 440,000; and - weekly energy-inventory data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), with oil stocks forecast to be up 1.4 million barrels. In New York Tuesday, copper futures corrected slightly lower for the second day in a row in response to an uptick in the dollar, but with the metal largely consolidating ahead of a report on a report on U.S. gross domestic on Thursday. December copper fell 1.20 cents to $2.9990 per pound. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 1,075 metric tons Wednesday, leaving them at 371,725. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Tuesday afternoon, were up 783 short tons at 59,811 short tons.

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