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

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (22366)	10/28/1998 7:02:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116753

Silver Futures Rise 3 Percent Wednesday, 28 October 1998 (AP) SILVER FUTURES jumped 3 percent Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange as supplies continued to tighten. On other markets, natural gas futures tumbled a second day, while coffee and sugar rose. Silver futures rose the second consecutive session, rising after languishing for weeks in a tight range, amid reports of heavy buying for jewelry ahead of the holiday gift-giving period. Silver inventories in exchange-approve warehouses have hovered near record lows, and increased lease rates - or costs for borrowing the metal - signal supplies may be tightening further, analysts said. Silver prices have fallen sharply since early this year, when billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway company revealed it had purchased about 20 percent of the world's silver supply. Prices had run up sharply in the weeks preceding that announcement amid fears of dwindling supplies after nine straight years of dwindling production. But they fell sharply as demand from India, the world's largest silver consumer, plummeted in the face of steep prices. December silver rose 10.3 cents to $5.048 an ounce, after rising as much as 16.5 cents earlier in the session. Natural gas futures plummeted a second day amid dwindling concerns about Hurricane Mitch affecting facilities off shore of Texas and Louisiana - a region that produces 25 percent of U.S. natural gas. Investors on the New York Mercantile Exchange instead focused on traditional supply-demand fundamentals. Market participants expected the industry group American Gas Association to report another large buildup in natural gas in storage. The group last week reported storage tanks were 94 percent full, raising concerns about a second consecutive year of low prices if heating demand is weak this winter. Some forecasters are predicting a near-normal winter for residents in the Midwest and Northeast, the two largest heating areas, but a relatively warm early fall has left some market participants wary. The expiring November contract fell 13.6 cents to $1,972 for each 1,000 cubic feet, while active December fell 4.7 cents to $2.324 for each 1,000 cubic feet. Coffee and sugar futures advanced on the Board of Trade of the City of New York amid relief that Brazil, for now, will not devalue its currency. Brazil is the world's largest sugar and coffee producer, and futures prices had fallen on fears a currency devaluation would result in a flood of exports. Because both commodities are is sold in U.S. dollars, and a cheaper Brazilian real would significantly boost prices fetched on the open market. Brazil announced a mix of spending cuts and higher taxes - but no currency devaluation - in a bid to save nearly $24 billion next year and qualify for a rescue package being assembled by the International Monetary Fund. December arabica coffee rose 1.05 cents to $1.064 a pound; March raw sugar rose .21 cent to 7.76 cents a pound.