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To: Wildstar who wrote (23864)	12/5/1998 2:52:00 PM
From: Giraffe	Respond to of 116764

Copper At 11-Year Lows, Silver And Oil Slip NEW YORK (Reuters) - Copper prices slid to new 11-1/2 year lows Friday as warehouse stocks of the metal continued rising to the highest level in nearly five years. Supply concerns also weighed on other commodity markets, with silver, oil and coffee prices falling. The Goldman Sachs Commodity Index of 22 commodity futures prices ended 0.24 point lower at 132.33, just above the 1998 low at 132.06. At the COMEX, copper for March delivery closed 0.15 cent lower at 68.65 cents a pound. "Things are quiet, demand is soft, trading volume is off and inventories continue to climb," said John Gross, president of industry consultants J.E. Gross & Associates in New York. Copper stocks held in warehouses registered with the London Metal Exchange rose 3,700 metric tons Friday to 531,675 tons. Gross said the combined stocks of copper held at warehouses eligible to deliver against COMEX and London Metal Exchange futures rose by 58,134 short tons in November to 631,575 tons, the highest level since February 1994. Demand for industrial commodities like copper has been easing due to slowing world economic growth, and cuts in production have not been enough to bring supply back into balance, analysts said. "Copper prices are at 11-year lows, crude oil prices are at 12-year lows. So silver falling this week to only 15-month lows wasn't too bad," said analyst James Steel at commodity broker Refco Inc. March silver at COMEX ended down 0.8 cent at $4.787 an ounce after setting a life-of-contract low Thursday at $4.585. COMEX warehouse silver inventories rose a further 536,575 ounces Thursday to 78,561,418 ounces after sliding to record low levels earlier this year. Late in the week, talk circulated that U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, who as of February controlled 129 million ounces of silver or about 25 percent of annual world silver mine supply, had begun selling off some of the huge stake. "I'm very skeptical about the theory that this week's selloff was driven by Warren Buffett," said Scott Mehlman, chief bullion dealer at Credit Lyonnais Rouse in New York. "There's been no unusual bullion market activity as there was when Buffett accumulated his holding last year, and there's been nothing untoward in the way silver lease rates have been behaving either," he said. Officials at Buffett's investment firm, Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said Friday that "the company never comments on its investment activities." COMEX February gold ended up 60 cents at $294.30 an ounce. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil prices ended the week lower with traders showing little follow-through Thursday's cautious optimism that Venezuela might cut back its exports and help the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries buoy the lowest prices in a decade. January crude oil ended 2 cents lower at $11.17 a barrel, after setting a 12-year low of $10.82 Monday. "The market is still shaky, but it seems people don't want to revisit the lows below $11," one NYMEX floor trader said. Prices still reflect little faith that OPEC can take any effective steps to trim swollen global supplies of oil following raucous disagreements at the group's meeting last month in Vienna. Traders cautiously welcomed news that Norway, a major non-OPEC producer, had extended a 100,000-barrel-per-day production cut to mid-1999 from the end of 1998. Unseasonably warm weather in the United States put little pressure on heating oil supplies, with January heating oil ending 0.22 cent a gallon lower at 32.20 cents. January gasoline ended 0.32 cent a gallon lower at 34.19 cents. Coffee prices also fell back, with March coffee at the Coffee Sugar and Cocoa Exchange ending 1.60 cents a pound lower at 110.90 cents. Traders said sales of futures from coffee-producing countries help pressure prices on the day.

To: Wildstar who wrote (23864)	12/5/1998 2:54:00 PM
From: Giraffe	Respond to of 116764

Pakistan may have to default on debt repayment. Stock market crashes in Pakistan By ANWAR IQBAL ISLAMABAD, Dec. 5 (UPI) Pakistan's sinking credit rating and unsuccessful talks with U.S. officials in Washington have caused a major setback to the stock market. The 100-index Karachi Stock Exchange fell 63 points today, causing a loss of about $400 million to shareholders. On Thursday, international credit agency Standard & Poor's lowered Pakistan's credit rating to double-C from triple-C minus. The news, coupled with reports from Washington that the United States is unwilling to rescue Pakistan unless it joins international nuclear non-proliferation efforts, threw the Karachi stock market into turmoil. On the last trading day of the week, the market plunged as shareholders resorted to panic selling. Islamabad is reeling under international sanctions imposed after India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in May this year. In July, the country's foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time low of $480 million. Earlier this month, Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund finalized a bailout package of $5 billion to prevent an economic collapse. The deal has not been signed yet. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is currently visiting the United States to solicit support for his country's ailing economy. But media reports from Washington indicate that his meeting with President Bill Clinton was less than successful. Reports say the United States wants commitments from Pakistan on nuclear issues before going ahead with the bailout. Financial documents released with the national budget in July show that during the current fiscal year, Pakistan has to pay $5.9 billion dollars to service external and internal debts of over $32 billion. Without external support, Pakistan may have to default on debt repayment.