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

To: long-gone who wrote (23745)	12/2/1998 6:41:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

Dollar Falls Vs. Most Currencies Wednesday, 2 December 1998 N E W Y O R K (AP) THE DOLLAR sank Wednesday against most major currencies as a slump in U.S. stock prices dampened demand for the currency. A dollar bought 119.93 Japanese yen in late New York trading Wednesday, down from 122.17 yen late Tuesday. The dollar fell to 1.6697 German marks in New York from 1.6810 marks Tuesday. "The dollar started the day weak on expectations that the U.S. equity markets would be weak," said Guillermo Estebanez, a foreign exchange economist at Bank of America in San Francisco. He said the dollar recovered a bit late in the day as stock prices, while still finishing broadly lower, had rebounded from the lows of the day. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled more than 100 points in the early going on Wall Street and was off more than 178 points by early afternoon before it rallied to close with a 69-point loss for the day. The stock market had only last week reached new record highs, but has been down this week. Boeing's announcement late Tuesday that it was cutting an additional 20,000 jobs hurt stock prices on Wednesday as did a weak November sales report from the big retailer Sears. Estebanez said the stock market's performance this week served as a reminder that "for the dollar to maintain its strength, we need to have good yields" on stocks. The dollar's decline came despite a strong housing sales report, a suggestion that the economy continues to grow. But Estebanez noted that even with the dollar's decline on Wednesday, it has remained within "reasonably natural ranges for many weeks." Other late dollar rates in New York, compared with late rates Tuesday, included: 1.3655 Swiss francs, down from 1.3812; 5.600 French francs, down from 5.6445; 1,653.10 Italian lire, down from 1,664.00; and 1.5340 Canadian dollars, up from 1.5310. The British pound was quoted at $1.6675, up from $1.6543.

To: long-gone who wrote (23745)	12/2/1998 6:43:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116764

Silver Falls on Inventory Worries Wednesday, 2 December 1998 (AP) SILVER FUTURES fell sharply Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid concern about increasing U.S. inventories even before the holiday jewelry-making period comes to an end. On other markets, crude and its products rose for the first time in a week, while soybeans also gained. Silver futures have been slumping as warehouse inventories continue to rebound from record lows set in September. Supplies monitored by the Comex division of the New York Merc now stand at 76.81 million ounces, up from the low of 71.91 million on Sept. 28. Analysts say the increase comes as demand from India, the world's largest consuming nation, falls below expectations and as producers increase output. Mexico and others boosted mine production earlier this year after silver prices jumped to their highest in nearly 10 years amid robust demand from India and increased used in photographic film. But prices have tumbled more than a third since then after billionaire investor Warren Buffett's company revealed it had acquired 129 million ounces of silver amid expectations of seeing huge price increases. That pronouncement, ironically, caused Indian buying to dry up and significantly weakened demand for the metal. Silver's fortunes also have been hurt by a lack of inflation in the United States. Silver and other precious metals are seen as good investments during times of inflation because they tend to hold their value better. Silver for December delivery fell 18.8 cents to $4.664 an ounce. Crude and its products finished higher in futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the first time in six session as U.S. inventory data showed a sharp decline in crude stockpiles for the first time in months. Analysts say world oil producers are exporting at least 1.5 million barrels a day too much crude, during a period of sharply lower demand from Asian and reduced demand from the United States because of a warmer-than-normal fall. After members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries came away from a meeting in Vienna without an agreement to at least extend current output target through all of 1999, oil prices retreated to 12-year low and appeared poised to fall to about $10 a barrel. But market participants said the current supply data from the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Energy Department that showed inventories fell as much as 5.7 million barrels last week helped stabilized prices. January crude rose 11 cents to $11.24 a barrel; January heating oil rose .53 cent to 32.28 cents a gallon; January unleaded gasoline rose .10 cent to 34.63 cents a gallon; January natural gas fell 7.2 cents to $1.886 for each 1,000 cubic feet. Soybean futures rose strongly on the Chicago Board of Trade amid forecasts for dry weather this weekend in Brazilian growing regions. Speculation is increasing that the lack of precipitation so far during the Brazilian growing season will result in production losses. That could be good news for U.S. farmers, many of whom have elected to store their bumper crops during a time of relatively poor export demand in hopes of fetching better prices down the road. Soybeans also were supported by market talk that Argentina's inventories of soybean meal were running low earlier than usual, which could mean more U.S. business for exporters. January soybeans rose 5 3/4 cents to $5.87 3/4 a bushel.