NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--May copper futures are expected to open floor trading near steady Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In overnight activity, base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were lower Wednesday in Europe as LME warehouse copper inventories posted a small rise and a lack of business overnight in Asia weighed.

In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.5721 from $1.5702 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the June S&P 500 futures are down 3.2 points to 1,367.80. May crude is down 30 cents to $108.20 in overnight activity.

U.S. economic reports on Wednesday include February wholesale trade numbers at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), with inventories expected up 0.5%; and April 4 oil inventories at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), with crude oil stocks expected up 2.4 million barrels.

In New York Tuesday, copper futures declined after testing $4 the previous session as funds saw the higher U.S. dollar, lower equities and softer precious metals as an opportunity to book profits by selling bullish positions. May copper fell 8.9 cents to settle at $3.8905 per pound.

Inventories of copper stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses rose 525 metric tons Wednesday, leaving them at 115,575. The most recent Comex inventory data, released late Tuesday afternoon, were unchanged at 11,931 short tons.

-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959; matt.whittaker@dowjones.com