Commodities : Silver Futures Prices Soar

Silver futures prices soared on an outbreak of computer fund buying Monday on the Commodity Exchange in New York. Gold and platinum also moved higher. On other markets, cattle futures were higher, while pork was mixed; corn advanced, while wheat and soybeans were mostly lower, and energy futures were mixed.

“There was a lot of activity in metals for the first time in quite a while,” said Bette Raptopoulos, an analyst in New York with Prudential-Bache Securities. “There was good computer fund buying when silver hit certain levels of resistance and overcame them.” Silver broke through last week’s highs, reaching its best level since mid January, said Bill O’Neill, an analyst in New York with Elders Futures Inc. The computer systems, signaling that they had spotted a trend to the upside, triggered “very aggressive, fund-oriented buying,” he said.

O’Neill said “prices are very close to breaking through” the $5.82-an-ounce level. There was little on the fundamental side to justify the advance, although both O’Neill and Raptopoulos said some support came from a Reagan Administration warning to Iran that the United States was prepared to use force to keep the Persian Gulf open to shipping.