METALS-Shanghai copper seen steady; Fed in focus

SINGAPORE, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Shanghai copper was seen
steady on Wednesday after a choppy session in London, with
market attention pinned to comments by the Federal Reserve on
interest rates and the state of the U.S. economy due later.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange MCU3
fell $90, or 1.4 percent, to close at $6,460 a tonne on
Tuesday, reversing the previous session's 1.1 percent gain. But
in late trade prices recovered to $6,534.

* When Shanghai closed, LME copper traded around $6,520.

* On the data front, U.S. factory goods orders for
September beat expectations and auto sales ticked up to 834,517
vehicles from 834,271 a year ago. [ID:nN03494548]
[ID:nN03518892]

* Looking ahead the a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting
concludes later in the day. The market expects rates to remain
unchanged but attention will be paid for clues about future
rate policy. [FED/R]

* Traders said the dollar would remain a major influence on
base metals, but surging gold, which hit a new record high of
$1,087.45 after India bought 200 tonnes of IMF bullion, would
also support industrial metals,

* The other big data event is the U.S. monthly employment
report Friday. The unemployment rate is seen rising to 9.9
percent from 9.8 percent in September, wit a 175,000 fall
non-farm payrolls. [ECONUS]

MARKETS NEWS

* The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose slightly on Tuesday as news
of a major railroad acquisition helped sentiment, but the Dow
edged lower on caution before the Fed statement on rates and
the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI slipped
17.53 points, or 0.18 percent, to end at 9,771.91. [.N]

* The U.S. dollar steadied on Wednesday, having hit a
one-month high on a basket of currencies while the euro and
growth-linked currencies were subdued, hurt by profit-taking by
funds ahead of year-end book closing.

* London Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 rose to as high as
$78.32 a barrel on Wednesday, up $1.77 from Tuesday's
settlement, after U.S. factory order data signalled potential
for more fuel demand. [O/R]

DATA/EVENTS

The following data is expected on Wednesday: ECON

- Euro zone October services PMI

- Euro zone producer price index (1000 GMT)

- U.S. October ADP employment report (1315 GMT)

- U.S. October non-manufacturing ISM index (1500 GMT)

- U.S. Federal Open Market Committee statement (about 1915
GMT)
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)