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To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (18144)	9/8/1998 6:36:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116972

Bobby, Indonesia? Middle Class? Coffe prices are going up! Grains rise on dollar outlook, coffee up 06:01 p.m Sep 08, 1998 Eastern CHICAGO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Grain markets rose on Tuesday, buoyed by a strong recovery on Wall Street and continued softness in the U.S. dollar against the yen and other foreign currencies, a sign that export demand may pick up. In other commodity markets, coffee closed higher as traders eyed possible labour disruptions in top exporter Brazil, but oil closed lower amid swollen world supplies. Sentiment in many financial markets was buoyed by comments late last Friday by U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan that signalled a willingness to cut interest rates if necessary in order to boost economic growth and help the world economy shake off its recent woes. Lower U.S. interest rates would also continue to pressure the dollar and increase the strength of foreign economies in Asia and emerging markets. The lower dollar makes key U.S. exports like grains and soybeans cheaper to foreign buyers. Optimism fed a rally in Wall Street stocks as the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its biggest point gain ever, closing up 380.53 points, or nearly 5 percent, at 8,020.78. Those gains in turn put wind back into the sails and money into the margin accounts of big speculators like commodity funds. At the Chicago Board of Trade, grains led the markets higher. Wheat for delivery in September ended 4 cents a bushel higher at $2.50 and September corn closed 4-3/4 cents higher at $2.00-1/4, while September soybeans rose 3 cents to $5.26. An expected bumper harvest of corn and soybeans is just getting under way in the U.S. Midwest, but prices have recently been bouncing off the lowest levels in a decade. The lower dollar especially was seen as giving U.S. exports a shot in the arm. ''I think the market got a little strength by virtue of the outside markets today and the dollar's weakness,'' said Dale Gustafson, a grains and oilseed analyst at Salomon Smith Barney in Chicago. ''It's more psychological than anything.'' Coffee prices also closed higher, as traders kept a concerned eye on possible labour troubles in Brazil, the world's top producer. Coffee harvest continues there and world roasters have been waiting eagerly for the new supplies. But Brazilian customs office workers were scheduled to meet on Wednesday to decide whether to go back on strike. Strikes and slowdowns by customs workers, crane operators and dockworkers at some ports in August delayed exports, including coffee. At the Coffee Sugar and Cocoa Exchange in New York, coffee for September delivery closed 3.15 cents a pound higher at 122.05 cents. Elsewhere, oil prices closed lower amid a lack of any news to bolster prices or call into doubt the ready availability of cheap oil in major consuming countries like the United States. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, October crude oil closed 30 cents lower at $14.29 a barrel. October heating oil ended 0.52 cent a gallon lower at 38.61 cents and October gasoline 0.72 cent a gallon lower at 41.36 cents. For months, crude oil has traded far below last year's average of about $20 a barrel, a situation blamed on a global supply glut, poor demand from weakened Asian economies and a warmer winter in the northern hemisphere. A U.S. government study released on Tuesday said revenue for the 11-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries was expected to drop to $101 billion this year, down 32 percent from last year and the lowest since 1972 when adjusted for inflation. Oil prices have remained low, despite two rounds of pledges among producers this year promising combined reductions of some 3.1 million barrels a day in oil production. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited