COMMODITIES : Prices of Metals Futures Advance

Prices for future delivery of silver and copper posted steep gains Thursday on expectations of increasing demand among industrial users of the metals.

Gold futures prices also advanced on perceptions of rising inflation.

On other markets, soybean futures surged while grain futures were mixed; stock index futures fell, and energy, livestock and meat futures were mixed.

Wednesday’s government figures showing that the economy grew at a higher-than-expected 4.8% rate in the fourth quarter of 1987 had a delayed effect on silver and copper futures on New York’s Commodity Exchange, said Bernard Savakl, a metals analyst for Paine Webber.

Copper Higher

“Silver and copper are industrial metals that have to play catch-up on the upside now following the GNP report,” Savakl said. “What the government is saying is contrary to the majority of expectations: The economy did not slow to a grinding halt but gathered upward momentum, and that’s very positive for industrial metals.”

Silver, which also is a precious metal and thus perceived as an investment hedge against inflation, also gained in reaction to generally higher futures prices for other commodities, Savakl said.

The Commodities Research Bureau’s index of 21 commodity markets gained 1.25 points Thursday, a moderate advance.

Analyst Stephen W. Platt of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. attributed the silver rally to Far Eastern buying of the metal and to the dollar’s decline in value against foreign currencies.

Platt also noted that copper is in short supply. Tight supplies of copper have been cited to explain the metal’s steady increase in value since late February.

Copper settled 0.50 cent to 6.25 cents higher, with the contract for March delivery at $1.1395 a pound.

Gold settled $2.20 to $3 higher, with April at $454.30 an ounce; silver was 12.5 cents to 13.4 cents higher, with March at $6.735.

The silver rally may have sparked buying interest in soybean futures, which gained as much as 9.50 cents a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Grains were mixed.

“There was no new fundamental news during the session, but sometimes the soybeans will trade with the precious metals markets,” said Walter Spilka, an analyst in New York with Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co.

“The grain markets had looked strong before today, and the rise in silver prices may have led to inflationary ideas,” he said.

Expectations that the dollar will remain weak, making U.S. goods cheaper overseas, may also have supported the soybean market, he said.

Wheat settled unchanged to 2 cents lower, with May at $3.0675 a bushel; corn was 0.75 cent to 1.25 cents higher, with May at $2.07 a bushel; oats were 0.75 cent to 1.25 cents higher, with May at $1.685 a bushel, and soybeans were 7 cents to 9.50 cents higher, with May at $6.4925 a bushel.

Stock index futures tumbled on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where the contract for June delivery of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index settled 6.30 points lower at 264.10.

Stock and stock index futures prices opened sharply lower in reaction to the dollar’s weakness and continued to fall throughout the session.

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