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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (16703)	8/27/1998 4:33:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Commodity prices fell to their lowest level in more than 20 years Thursday as the economic crisis in Russia added to the gloom hounding the global economy. The Commodity Research Bureau index, which measures a basket of 17 leading commodities, fell to a 21-year low at 195.38 points Thursday, . The index of 17 leading commodities was down 1.09 at 195.96, the lowest level since Aug. 27, 1977 -- exactly 21 years ago -- when a low of 184.77 points was reached, according to the Commodities Research Bureau in Chicago. ''The Russian economic crisis is obviously the catalyst for much of the slide in commodities and financial markets this week, as the Asian contagion spreads to other emerging markets,'' said David Rinehimer, director of commodities research for Salomon Smith Barney. ''Commodities markets were already under pressure from the slump in Asian demand in the past year and the oversupply of crude oil and some grains,'' he said. Asia's economic woes started in July 1997 in Thailand and the contagion spread to the rest of the Pacific Rim region and Russia. Demand for commodities has dried up in the ailing economies and the backup of unwanted supplies have depressed prices. The Russian crisis exploded this week, with the rouble in a freefall a week after Moscow allowed the currency to devalue. Gold prices fell to $278.50 an ounce, equalling the 18-year low set in January this year. Copper prices were near 12-year lows, corn prices were at their lowest levels in a decade, sugar was near a seven-year low and crude oil was the lowest in about 11 years. ''The economies of the industrial economies are going to be impacted by lower commodities prices, but economic demand in the U.S. and Europe was good in the first half of 1998 and is still helping to cushion the impact of the Asian financial crisis,'' Rinehimer said. ''It's true that commodities prices are ... reaching multi-year lows, but it's debateable how much lower commodities prices can go as some of them are reaching their marginal cost of production,'' he said. 15:37 08-27-98 08/27/98 15:38