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Gold/Mining/Energy : Trico Marine Services (TMAR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gameboy who wrote (852)	9/23/1998 4:34:00 PM
From: D.J.Smyth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1153

15:22 DJS Crude Hits $16 A Barrel, Then Retreats; CRB Index Gains 0.11 15:22 DJS Crude Hits $16 A Barrel, Then Retreats; CRB Index Gains 0.11 NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Commodities futures ended mixed Wednesday. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude-oil futures settled little changed after the front-month contract popped above $16 a barrel, prompting fund selling. The strong early move came on news of a large reduction in U.S. crude-oil stocks and speculation that OPEC may make yet another cut in oil output. Also in New York, precious metals ended broadly higher. In Chicago, grains and beans finished mostly lower. The CRB-Bridge futures index closed up 0.11 at 202.89. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude oil dipped 3 cents to settle at $15.81 a barrel, after jumping to $16.10 earlier. An analyst said fund selling hit the market as soon as the contract broke above $16. "There's a sense that we've gone as high as we're going to go on recent developments, so it may be time to take profits," he said. December crude oil added a penny to close at $15.95. Technically, the market looks overbought in the short-term, said one broker, who thinks fresh, positive news is needed for nearby crude oil to challenge its next significant resistance area at $16.50. Crude inventory fell more than 9 million barrels to stand at just over 316 million barrels in the latest reports from both the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. Department of Energy, the lowest point for crude inventory since the week ended Jan. 9, when crude futures were trading around $16.50 a barrel. Analysts, though, warned that inventory data over the past few weeks have been skewed by storm-related delays in tanker unloadings. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in the Gulf Of Mexico closed twice for two different storms, Earl and Frances, in September, delaying the unloading of huge tankers that carry well over 1 million barrels of oil each. "We're going to see those barrels make their way into storage," said an analyst. An OPEC communique was released after Wednesday's meeting of oil ministers from OPEC's Algeria, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and non-OPEC Oman in Kuwait City. The release stated that the ministers agreed to "examine all possible options and to take the necessary measures to improve the existing oil market prices, including further reductions in oil production." One analyst said the meeting appeared to be laying the groundwork for a production cut ahead of the OPEC meeting in November. That sentiment was supported by statements shortly after the Nymex opening by Iran's oil minister, who said a new round of oil cuts is possible by November, with all OPEC members and non-OPEC Mexico participating. Still, most analysts have said that they need more than talk from OPEC to truly turn around market sentiment. Among petroleum products: October unleaded gasoline finished down 0.49 cent at 45.73 cents a gallon. News that the huge 500,000-barrel-a-day Hess refinery in St. Croix, the U.S. Virgin Islands, had restarted and was expected to hit full operation by the weekend threw some water on an earlier complex-wide rally, and redirected the gasoline market's attention to the large inventory builds in U.S. gasoline stocks amid weak demand reported Tuesday and Wednesday. The Hess unit had been closed ahead of Hurricane Georges' arrival. October heating oil ended down 0.25 cent at 41.91 cents a gallon. October natural gas closed down 5.5 cents at $2.131 per million BTUs. On New York's Commodities Exchange, December gold rose $2.00 to settle at $292.50 an ounce. The market was supported by a recent poll by the World Gold Council that showed 69% of Swiss citizens think gold reserves are an important part of monetary reserves. "The response is positive and the Swiss could have an impact on the price of gold," said an analyst for a Dutch-based bullion bank. "There have been positive sentiments over the past few months that some European countries are still pro-gold," said an analyst for a different Dutch bank. "Attitudes are changing towards gold reserves, with the likelihood there will be fewer sales of central bank gold." Analysts also saw support for the gold price in recent news that China is planning to increase gold reserves by between 1,000 and 1,500 tons from the current 397 tons. China now holds 3% of its reserves in gold, according to the the country's State Administration of Metallurgy's Economic Development Research Center. "Gold is an alternative investment," said an analyst for a London-based bank. "It's all related to the yen weakness and dollar strength," said an analyst. "But it's also about market perception and gold reflects these perceptions." Gold was fixed Wednesday afternoon in London at $288.90 an ounce, up 90 cents from the morning fixing. December silver futures jumped 15.3 cents to end at $5.043 an ounce. October platinum rose $2.20 to finish at $355.50 per ounce. Among industrial metals, December copper rose 1.40 cents to end at 75.05 cents per pound. Among grains in Chicago: December wheat settled unchanged at $2.74 1/4 per bushel. December corn dropped 1 cent to end at $2.05 1/2 a bushel. December oats fell 2 3/4 cents to settle at $1.12 3/4 per bushel. November soybeans fell 3 1/2 cents to finish at $5.26 1/4 a bushel, burdened by forecasts for less rain this weekend, which will mean strong harvest activity. In the livestock complex: October cattle fell 0.83 cent to finish at 60.98 cents per pound. October hogs rose 0.25 cent to end at 41.63 cents per pound. February pork bellies fell 0.08 cent to settle at 47.75 cents per pound. Among food and fiber futures in New York: December coffee rose 0.20 cent to finish at 103.05 cents per pound. December cotton fell 0.42 cent to end at 76.07 cents per pound. March sugar fell 0.20 cent to settle at at 7.44 cents per pound. November orange juice fell 1.10 cents to end at 104.75 cents per pound. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 09/23 3:22p CDT