EU pledge, US market rally expected to give local futures room to grow

Chinese commodity futures are set to open higher Monday after a surge in US equities Friday after the domestic markets closed.

Still, there will likely only be a modest initial rise in domestic metals futures. International copper, gold and crude oil prices moved little after the Chinese mainland markets closed Friday.

The benchmark three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) added about 0.5 percent in post-Asian trading Friday to close at $7,566.20 per ton, capping off a 1.3 percent rise for the day. Still, the contract finished the week slightly down.

The August Comex gold contract in the US lost a fraction of a percent over the same period, finishing up 0.2 percent for the day and up 2.2 percent for the week. Precious metals rose last week on speculation that the world's major central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, would launch addition rounds of monetary easing that would increase gold's value as an inflation hedge.

Meanwhile, the Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract was steady, ending the day up 0.8 percent.

Commodities markets rose Friday along with the other financial markets after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi vowed late Thursday to do whatever it takes to preserve the eurozone, Reuters reported.

Early last week, Spanish and Italian borrowing costs had risen to alarming levels, indicating a lack of faith in the currency union's survival.

Global stock markets surged on Draghi's comments, with gains spilling into Friday.

This coming week, headlines out of the EU will continue to drive the financial markets, "but focus will increasingly turn to the Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of England policy meetings next week," according to a note from the Australian bank ANZ.