Commodities : Monday, Aug. 3, 1987 : Precious Metals Prices Jump
Precious metals futures prices rose sharply Monday as heightened tension in the Mideast jarred U.S. commodity and financial markets.
Oil futures prices soared, interest rate futures fell, soybean futures retreated, most livestock and meat futures were lower and cotton futures set contract highs.
Threats by Iran, tension resulting from last week’s deadly clash between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi Arabian police in Mecca and ship movements in the Persian Gulf were among “the key issues that made the markets move,” said Craig Sloan, an analyst in New York with Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co.
Most precious metals contracts struck two-month highs on the Commodity Exchange in New York, as investors sought a safe haven for their money.
Last Friday’s clash involving Iranians in Mecca had the oil markets primed when they opened at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The tension deepened as reflagged Kuwaiti oil vessels steamed through the Persian Gulf as Iran announced naval maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz and warned other nations to keep their ships and planes out of Iranian waters.
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