NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--December copper futures are expected to open floor trading around 1 cent higher Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In overnight activity, base metals on the London Metal Exchange staved off a deeper correction, with copper bouncing back to hold above a key support as the euro recovered against the dollar. Copper fell to a fresh one-month low before steadying and clawing back above key support at $6,000 a metric ton to keep it within its recent range. Recently in other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro was up to $1.4688 from $1.4656 late Thursday in New York. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures were up 3.2 points. November crude was up 37 cents at $66.26. U.S. economic reports on Friday include: -- August durable goods at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with total orders expected up 0.3%, -- September final Reuters/University Of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index at 9:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT), with the end month sentiment index expected at 70.5, -- August new home sales at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), with overall sales expected up 1.6% at 440,000. In New York Thursday, copper futures fell sharply as pressure from an inventory build and weaker-than-expected housing data triggered pre-placed sell orders. December copper lost 9.85 cents, or more than 3.5%, to settle at $2.7095. Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell 175 metric tons Friday, leaving them at 340,700. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Thursday afternoon, were up 46 short tons at 53,750 short tons. Once-a-week data released on Friday's by the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed a weekly decline of 5,559 metric tons to 98,689.

Source