Rohstoffnews

    01 Dez 2004 17:45



    01.12.2004 17:42:30 Europe gold ends firm on weak dollar, $455 in focus



    * Gold closes higher in Europe on Wednesday, with dealers eyeing a move to match last week's 16-1/4-year high at $455 per ounce on dollar weakness.


    Spot gold closes at $452.40/453.15 per troy ounce by 1615 GMT, compared with $450.50/451.25 in New York late on Tuesday. Euro last at $1.3303 after hitting a record high versus the dollar at $1.3335.


    * Silver heaps on gains to its highest since April as funds spead their purchases across gold and silver. Spot pumps up to $7.88/7.91 by 1634 GMT from $7.68/7.71 quoted in late New York trade on Tuesday.


    * Platinum at $867.00/872.00, up marginally from New York's $865.00/869.00.


    * Palladium marginally higher at $209.00/213.00 from $208.00/212.00.

    Tja,da können wir wohl morgen, erstmals seit Frühjahr,die 8 vorne drann begrüssen!
    Schätze aber,bei 8,40 rum, werden sich die Comex-Buben die Chance nicht entgehen lassen,für die Chartisten ein (vorübergehendes) "Doppeltop" zu inszenieren...wenn das dann wieder nicht klappt,sind wir an Weihnachten zweistellig vor dem Komma...mindestens :)

    01 Dez 2004 17:55



    01.12.2004 17:42:57 Commodities News Summary


    TOP NEWS
    > NY gold above $456 early, silver hits 8-mo. high [nN01376540]


    NEW YORK - U.S. gold futures climbed to within sight of recent 16-year highs on Wednesday morning after the dollar hit an all-time low versus the euro, while fund and trade buying lifted silver prices to an eight-month peak.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 1-Gold higher in Europe, $455.00 in view [nL01193067]


    LONDON - Gold prices pushed higher on Wednesday in Europe, with a probe towards the recent 16-1/4-year high at $455.00 an ounce triggered by dollar weakness, traders said.


    - - - -



    > London coffee up 1.8 pct, reversing earlier losses [nL01210189]


    * London's robusta coffee futures up 1.8 percent by 1555 GMT on Wednesday, reversing earlier losses.


    - - - -



    > Soy rust found in Tennessee, 9th US state infected [nWBT002012]


    WASHINGTON - A U.S. government test confirmed the highly contagious soybean rust in a Tennessee field, the ninth infected state found in less than a month, a state official said on Wednesday.


    - - - -



    METALS
    > Global mine supply seen falling to 2010 - GFMS [nL01136691]


    LONDON - Global supply of gold from mines is forecast to decline by an average of 30 tonnes a year over a five-year period from 2005, despite higher gold prices, industry consultant GFMS Ltd said on Wednesday.


    - - - -



    > INTERVIEW-Italy's jewellers see shoots of recovery [nL01564705]


    VICENZA, Italy - Italy's jewellery sector is seeing an export recovery, but still faces big challenges in the shape of a surging euro and strong gold prices, a senior industry official said.


    - - - -



    > Implats - Rand forces look at costs, Zimbabwe key [nL01209662]


    RUSTENBURG, South Africa - South Africa's strong rand is forcing Impala Platinum (/IMPJ.J) to examine costs and boost efficiency, but plans to boost output may depend on Zimbabwe, the world's second-largest platinum producer said on Wednesday.


    - - - -



    > Metals boom set fair for next few years - analyst [nL01185582]


    LONDON - Metal prices should rise from their already-strong position in the coming year and remain buoyant in the medium term, one of London's top analysts said on Wednesday, contrasting with a mood of caution among other analysts.


    - - - -



    SOFT COMMODITIES > UPDATE 2-Ivory Coast cocoa arrivals seen down on y [nL0163109]


    ABIDJAN - Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast were 254,612 tonnes between October 1 and November 30 this year, down some 20 percent on the same period a year ago, according to an estimate by major exporters on Wednesday.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 3-Vietnam says coffee crop may fall 10 pct [nHAN272851]


    HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam, the world's top robusta coffee exporter, said on Wednesday its crop output may fall 10 percent short of its forecast 13-13.5 million 60-kg bags due to adverse weather and higher costs.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 1-Iran confirms buys 40,000 tonnes of sugar [nL01524906]


    TEHRAN - Iran on Wednesday confirmed it had purchased 40,000 tonnes of raw sugar this week, despite earlier comments that it did not need imports, and trade sources said UK sugar and sweetener maker Tate & Lyle (/TATE.L) sold the sugar.


    - - - -



    GRAINS, OILSEEDS, LIVESTOCK
    > CBOT soybeans firm early on mild recovery [nN01140584]


    CHICAGO - Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade rebound slightly on Wednesday after nearly a week of lower closes, traders said.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 1-Britain says safe to ease mad-cow control [nL01681189]


    LONDON - Britain moved to put nearly two decades of crisis over mad cow behind it on Wednesday, saying it was safe to scrap a key measure protecting humans from the brain-wasting cattle disease.


    - - - -



    > Rainy US Northeast to dodge cold Canadian blast [nN01533770]


    NEW YORK - Rain in the U.S. Northeast, the nation's largest heating oil hub, should bring moderately cold winds, but harsh cold air should stay in Canada, forecasters said on Wednesday.


    - - - -



    > Germany wants Russia to lift grain import ban [nL01477341]


    HAMBURG - Germany is pressing Russia to end an import ban imposed in late November on German grains and other farm goods, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday.


    - - - -

    ...und für alle Freunde der "nur" hineinkopierten englischen Texte und -vorallem- von
    Herrn Buttler,hier was feines:




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    Message 2617 of 2619 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] Message Index
    Msg #
    From: GATAComm@a...
    Date: Wed Dec 1, 2004 2:42 am
    Subject: Ted Butler: The good news metal


    ADVERTISEMENT


    By Theodore Butler
    InvestmentRarities.com
    Thursday, November 29, 2004


    I prefer to analyze silver on supply and demand fundamentals rather
    than currency changes or chart configurations. I try to be a long-
    term value investor and analyst. I would never sell an undervalued
    asset (or buy an overvalued asset) just because the charts looked
    good or bad. Nor would I make a move just because I thought the
    dollar would go up or down.


    Currently the metals world seems to be engrossed in currency and
    chart signal obsessions, particularly concerning gold. As you know, I
    write almost exclusively on silver, but it's hard not to comment
    on gold, given their long-time shared history. I have written several
    articles, over the years, describing how the age-old relationship
    between these two precious metals had taken different paths in the
    past hundred years or so. Silver has become a vital industrial metal,
    needed in thousands of industrial applications, while gold remained
    true to its historical jewelry, investment and hedging roles.


    This changing new dual-role for silver – both as a precious metal
    and one that's an industrial necessity – resulted in a
    phenomenon unprecedented in the annals of history. This new demand
    for a universally known and revered commodity has almost evaporated
    the cumulative production of 5000 years of world mining. Who could
    have ever imagined that the silver being plundered and shipped from
    the Americas to Europe 400 years ago, would be consumed in cell
    phones, TVs and water purifiers? Silver became mandatory in all sorts
    of modern things designed to make life better. It also created the
    investment opportunity of a lifetime. That's because there is
    unquestioned documentation that not enough of this good news metal
    exists to go around.


    If silver has become the good news metal, based upon a growing world
    economy, then gold seems to be developing into the bad news metal, at
    least in some promoters' writings. Wherever I look, I feel
    inundated with stories promoting gold as some sort of end-of-the-
    world cure-all. The reasons for promoting gold all seem to be
    apocalyptic -- the destruction of the dollar, a slide into world
    depression, a breakdown of world trade, soaring oil prices, Islamic
    terrorists, runaway inflation or deflation. It's downright
    depressing.


    I also find it offensive how gold is increasingly portrayed as some
    type of anti-American barometer or tool, almost as if the higher gold
    goes in price shows how bad America is. That a few who enjoy the
    benefits of living in the US promulgate this feeling is particularly
    offensive. I don't know where this "gold is good America is bad"
    sentiment came from, but I think it stinks. I'm not anti-gold, I
    just disagree with the anti-American overtones of some gold bugs. Not
    only is America the best country in the world; it is the best country
    in the history of the world.


    Gold going up in price will only help, not hurt silver investors.
    Since most of the factors favoring gold (currencies, asset
    diversification, no one's liability, etc.) are present and turbo-
    charged in silver, higher gold prices can only bring favorable
    results for silver. My gripe is that those most vocal in gold appear
    to be also dissing America. I don't see the connection. I'm
    just glad that the negativism that seems to envelop some true
    believers in gold seems to bypass silver. I'd hate to see silver
    promoted in such negative terms.


    Like any asset class, gold can become overvalued. Especially when the
    tech funds who significantly influence price become heavily invested
    for reasons unrelated to gold itself. They often buy because of
    factors as simple as the price going up. Such buying can be
    notoriously fickle. Buying strictly because of price signals on the
    way up invariably leads, at some point, to selling strictly because
    of price signals on the way down. It has nothing to do with gold
    itself, and as such, can and does artificially distort the price.
    This is the essence of my study of the COTs. (By the way, the current
    COTs still indicate an epic extreme that must be resolved with either
    a short squeeze or a sell-off.)


    I am neither a true gold believer, nor basher. I am a gold agnostic.
    Be sure that I have many friends in the gold world and the last thing
    I would want to do is insult them. I recognize that if enough people
    put their money in it, gold, like any asset, can climb to any price
    imaginable. I recognize there are forces working both for and against
    the price, some free market oriented, some not. Being a gold agnostic
    did not prevent me from being the first to write about the fraud and
    manipulation of metal leasing and forward selling, and from
    explaining why gold was so undervalued $200 lower. But I just
    don't see gold (or silver) as the panacea in a doomsday scenario.
    And life is too short, in my opinion, to dwell on such a negative
    endgame. Buy for capital appreciation, not to survive in a "Mad Max"
    world.


    Being a gold agnostic, I look at things differently than do most true
    gold believers. I think that's good, because differences are what
    make life and analyses interesting. For instance, I see very little,
    if any, future role for gold (or silver) as money. I just don't
    see paper money being replaced by gold or silver. Money is a medium
    of exchange. Gold (and silver) is less of a medium of exchange in
    everyday world life than at any point in history. I know many hold
    gold (and silver) to be true money, as it had been for thousands of
    years. Well, the horse was basic transportation for thousands of
    years, and will, in my opinion, return as basic transportation about
    as soon as gold and silver return as basic money. Gold and silver are
    assets that are bought and sold as any other asset, not money or
    currency. If and when that changes, namely, we start using gold or
    silver in everyday commerce as money, then, I would agree, that they
    are money. Until then, they must be considered tangible assets.


    The funny thing is that paper money is dying, as its share of
    commerce is hitting record low percentages. But that is due to growth
    in credit and debit card and e-commerce transactions, not due to a
    metal money resurgence. In the unlikely event fiat money becomes
    thoroughly worthless any time soon (it will, of course, in the very
    long run), it will undoubtedly be replaced with another form of fiat,
    not metal. It should be obvious that there is probably not enough
    gold (and certainly not enough silver) in existence to provide a free
    circulation as money. And talk of a coming gold dinar (or silver
    dirham) is just plain silly and unworkable, in my opinion. Besides,
    even if fiat money were replaced with metal backing, the same
    government institutions that messed up the worthless fiat experiment
    would be in charge of the metal-backed currency, and you could count
    on the same old tricks.


    I feel I can afford to be a gold agnostic because of the existence of
    silver. If silver didn't exist, I might not be so quick to be a
    gold infidel. But silver, most assuredly, does exist, although in
    smaller and smaller total quantities daily. And that gives me, and
    should give you, the confidence to choose between the two. If gold
    soars in price due to macro-economic forces, silver will exceed
    percentage wise, by a wide margin, any long-term gold advance. And
    percentage return is what matters most to a comparison shopper. If
    gold falters long term, silver's fundamentals will kick in and it
    will divorce itself from gold. It's a win-win for silver.


    The reason silver is a win-win, no matter what happens to the price
    of gold, is at the core of the difference between the two metals.
    Gold needs continued new investment buying to buoy the price. Silver
    doesn't. Now, gold just may get that continued new investment
    buying and the price may continue to rise indefinitely. In that case,
    silver will get its share of that buying and will accentuate the move
    to the upside, given the small size of the silver market, and the
    resultant extreme price sensitivity of silver to investment buying.


    But if continued new investment buying does not materialize in gold,
    it's no big deal for silver. Because of the structural industrial
    deficit in silver, the law of supply and demand dictates we will run
    out of silver at some point and overwhelm the ongoing manipulation.
    Then silver prices will explode, regardless of what gold or any other
    commodity may be doing. In fact, when this event occurs, it is likely
    that we will then see specific investment buying targeted to silver,
    as the world discovers the real silver story.


    Let's say we gave the following lesson to a group of children.
    There are two metals of the same category (precious). The only
    outward physical difference is color; one is white and one yellow.
    They felt and weighed the same. They had each been used for the same
    purposes for thousands of years, but in the last hundred years or so,
    the white one was discovered to have many unique properties, better
    than any other material, that made possible many of the modern
    devices and inventions that made life better. Because of all the
    necessary uses on this white metal, all the accumulated amount
    produced over 5,000 years was almost completely depleted because we
    couldn't produce it as fast as we consumed it. The yellow metal
    was basically used as it always had been and all of it was still
    around in a form that could be retrieved. Because the white one was
    used up so much, there was a lot less of it left in the world than
    the yellow one. And even though the world produced more of the white
    one than the yellow one, it used up even more. So, even though there
    is less of the white metal in the world, meaning it's rarer than
    the yellow one, there is less of the white one every day, while there
    is more of the yellow metal every day. Additionally, the governments
    of many countries in the world own a lot of the yellow metal, which
    they keep selling, while very little of the white metal is still
    owned by governments, meaning not much can be sold. If the yellow one
    disappeared completely from the face of the earth overnight, it would
    have little or no impact on the life of the average world inhabitant.
    But if the white metal disappeared, modern life as we know it would
    be disrupted beyond belief.


    Now, the children are told that one metal cost 60 times as much as
    the other, and are asked to guess which metal is the most expensive.
    How do you think they would answer? It's that answer that permits
    me to be a gold agnostic.


    I did not mention that most newly mined silver comes as a byproduct
    to the mining of other metals, so I did not discuss the differences
    of cost of production between the yellow and white. Nor did I point
    out that the white metal had a much larger short position than the
    yellow one. And I did not raise the issue that if all investors in
    silver switched and put their entire proceeds in gold, it would
    hardly cause a ripple in the price of gold. While if 1% of the amount
    invested in gold were to migrate to silver, the silver price would
    immediately explode by many times the current price.


    It is when you step back and try to keep things simple, that the
    basic merits of silver clearly emerge, especially in a comparison
    with gold. This is what creates the lifetime investment opportunity
    in silver. It's not intended as a knock on gold, but as a valid
    comparison, which just happens to reflect very favorably on silver.
    I'm amazed more gold investors (and there are many, many times
    the number of investors in gold than silver) haven't made the
    silver connection yet. I think more will, if they study the merits
    objectively.


    Perhaps the biggest merit emerging is that when you invest in the
    good news metal, you don't have to root for bad things to happen,
    you just root for more world citizens to lead better lives.


    ----------------------------------------------------

    01 Dez 2004 22:08



    01.12.2004 21:50:20 NY gold ends firm but off highs, silver up 3.9 pct



    NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Gold futures climbed but settled below a 16-year high on Wednesday, buoyed by the dollar near a record low versus the euro and silver's jump to an eight-month peak above $8 an ounce.


    A burst of technical fund buying at the start of the month drove metal prices higher, dealers and analysts said.


    February delivery gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division moved as high at $457.70 an ounce, the highest for futures since July 1988, before ending at $455.90, up $2.70 on the day. The session low was $452.40.


    Investors have piled into gold and, to a lesser extent silver, amid concerns about the declining dollar, although volatility in crude oil and geopolitical tensions also have lent support.


    "I thought we might be in for a bit more of a correction in gold after the last month, but the rally continues strongly," said Paul McLeod, vice president of precious metals at Commerzbank in New York.


    Spot gold peaked at $455.20 Wednesday, its loftiest level since June 1988, before slipping slightly. It last fetched $453.30/4.05, up from Tuesday's New York close at $450.50/1.25.


    Physical demand for precious metals remains robust as well, especially on price dips, McLeod said.


    "Silver had a very strong day, and I think it's getting ready to test the highs for the year, which I don't think many people expected to be seen," he added.


    March silver closed 30.3 cents higher at $8.08 an ounce, after trading from $7.765 to $8.13. Spot silver jumped to $7.98/8.01, from Tuesday's late quote at $7.68/71.


    The peak this year for a nearby silver futures contract was $8.211 on April 11.


    The dollar hit an all-time low versus the euro at $1.3335 , before hovering at $1.3311 in the afternoon.


    The dollar has lost almost a tenth of its value versus a basket of currencies in four months on concerns about the U.S. current account deficit and speculation Washington is happy to see a weaker dollar.


    January platinum rose $6.30 to $878.60 an ounce. Spot platinum hit $874.00/879.00.


    March palladium lost $1.55 to close at $211.55. Spot palladium traded to $208.00/214.00.




    © Reuters 2004

    Jetzt wirds langsam Zeit Dow u. Co. zu shorten,Beigebook optimistisch, aber der Dollar kriegt was vor den Latz, 1,3353........


    01 Dez 2004 22:23



    01.12.2004 22:19:04 FOKUS 1-Fed beurteilt US-Konjunkturbedingungen optimistisch



    Washington, 01. Dez (Reuters) - Die Wirtschaft der USA ist der US-Notenbank (Fed) zufolge im Oktober und Anfang November gewachsen.


    "Die Berichte aus den zwölf Bezirken der US-Notenbank zeigen generell ein Bild von anhaltendem Wirtschaftswachstum von Mitte Oktober bis Mitte November", teilte die Fed am Mittwoch in ihrem Konjunkturbericht Beige Book mit, den die Federal Reserve Bank von Dallas auf Basis von Daten vor dem 22. November erstellt hat.


    Insbesondere am Arbeitsmarkt gebe es in den vergangenen Wochen positive Entwicklungen, wobei in einigen Regionen mittlerweile in Bauberufen, der Buchhaltung und der Energieversorgung sogar Arbeitskräfte fehlten. Allerdings entwickelten sich die Ausgaben der Verbraucher sehr unterschiedlich, in vielen Gebieten uneinheitlich, in anderen unverändert oder schwächer.


    Die hohen Energiepreise könnte nach Fed-Angaben zu einer Verschiebungen der Ausgaben geführt haben. "Einzelhändler in den Bezirken Dallas, Kansas City und New York berichten, dass die Nachfrage nach Hochpreis-Produkten deutlich stärker ist als die nach günstigeren Produkten", hieß es in dem Bericht weiter. Es gebe Hinweise darauf, dass Haushalte mit niedrigeren Einkommen stärker von dem Energiepreisanstieg betroffen sein könnten. Höheren Kosten für Energie, Transport, Nahrungsmittel und aus Erdöl hergestellte Produkte würden Unternehmen in allen Landesteilen belasten. Die Einzelhandelspreise seien infolgedessen aber kaum angestiegen.


    Das nach der Farbe seines Einbands benannte Beige Book dient dem für die Geldpolitik verantwortlichen Offenmarktausschuss der Fed (FOMC) als wichtige Grundlage für seine Zinsentscheidungen. Volkswirte rechnen mehrheitlich damit, dass die Fed bei ihrer nächsten Sitzung am 14. Dezember ihren als Schlüsselzins geltenden Zielsatz für Tagesgeld ein fünftes Mal in diesem Jahr um 25 Basispunkte auf dann 2,25 Prozent anheben wird.


    che/sws

    02 Dez 2004 08:44



    02.12.2004 08:38:45 TOCOM gold at 12-year high after New York rally



    TOKYO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Tokyo gold futures rose on Thursday to their highest level in 12 years after prices in New York rallied to a 16-year high, although a soaring yen made investors wary of bidding up yen-based futures aggressively.


    The October contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rose as high as 1,505 yen per gram, the highest for the benchmark month since Aug. 3, 1992 when prices marked a high of 1,509 yen. At the close it was up five yen at 1,502.


    "The market drew strength from a bullish overseas market. But its rise was more gradual due to a strong yen," one broker said.


    He added that the benchmark contract was expected to approach 1,563 yen -- the peak for 1992 set on March 12 -- unless the dollar's downturn came to a halt.


    Broad concerns about the declining U.S. dollar have driven investors toward gold, which is viewed as a classic store of value when the U.S. currency is under pressure.


    The dollar sank to a record low against the euro and fell to its lowest level since March 2000 versus the yen on Thursday as traders played down the chances of joint market intervention by European and Japanese authorities.


    At 0630 GMT, the euro was buying around $1.3365 , up from $1.3345 in late New York trade and just off the record high of $1.3375 hit earlier in the day.


    The dollar was at 102.20 yen after falling to 102.11,
    a 4-½ year low and down nearly half a percent from late
    trading in New York.


    The market is focused on the ability of the United States to fund its budget and current account deficits, and on suspicions that Washington wants a weaker dollar to help fix the imbalance.


    In New York, COMEX February gold moved as high as $457.70 an ounce, the priciest for futures since July 1988, before settling at $455.90, still up $2.70 on the day.


    Spot gold was at $456.10/65 an ounce at 0630 GMT, extending gains from New York's last-quoted $453.60/454.35. TOCOM platinum futures rebounded on Thursday, buoyed by gains in New York and higher gold prices.


    The benchmark October platinum contract ended up 15 yen per gram at 2,793, after trading between 2,785 and 2,805.


    Other months gained nine to 18 yen.


    Spot platinum was at $874.00/879.00 an ounce at 0630 GMT, unchanged from late New York.


    Below are closing prices for TOCOM's most active precious metals contracts, with the day's turnover for each metal.


    Closing prices are in yen per gram except for silver, which is in yen per 10 grams:


    For open interest details please click
    Closing price Turnover (lots)
    GOLD 1,502 (up 5) 58,033
    SILVER 261.9 (up 7.7) 9,718
    PLATINUM 2,793 (up 15) 39,439
    PALLADIUM 692 (down 18) 1,236

    02 Dez 2004 12:22



    02.12.2004 12:14:20 Newmont positive on Indonesia despite legal case



    By Jerry Norton


    JAKARTA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Newmont Mining Corp. (/NEM.N) is positive about its Indonesia operations despite allegations of pollution that could bring legal charges against executives and a company unit, a Newmont vice president said on Thursday.


    Environmental groups and some villagers living near Buyat Bay on Indonesia's Sulawesi island say waste disposed in the bay by the Newmont gold mine contained pollutants contaminating the food chain and causing health problems.


    Newmont, the world's biggest gold producer, denies that.


    However, Indonesian prosecutors said this week they expect to file charges under environmental laws against six executives and the company's Indonesian unit responsible for the mine.


    Conviction could mean jail terms for the executives.


    Asked how that situation affected Newmont's attitude towards Indonesian operations, vice president for environment Dave Baker said: "Newmont's still very positive on Indonesia.


    "We've been here a long time and as far as I know we have no intention of leaving ... It doesn't matter what country you're in, you go through ups and downs," the Denver-based executive told reporters near the end of a visit to Indonesia.


    Mining groups and the U.S. embassy in Jakarta have said the Newmont case may discourage much-needed foreign investment.


    Asked if he thought the prospect of executives going to jail would rule out consideration of major new projects in Indonesia, Baker said that wouldn't necessarily be the case.


    "It just depends on the project and the project's economics and a whole lot of factors," he said. "There's always the political piece, the technical piece, the social piece, the economic piece."


    Newmont's chief executive, Wayne Murdy, is also in Indonesia this week and visiting government officials, including the mines and energy minister, to present the company's side on the issues.


    Charges of breaching environmental rules carry jail terms of up to 15 years in Indonesia if people are proved to have died or become seriously ill as a result of pollution. Legal articles cited by prosecutors this week carry terms of up to 10 years.


    Baker said studies of illnesses in the Buyat Bay area, site of Newmont's Minahasa mine some 2,200 km (1,400 miles) northeast of Jakarta, showed no signs of arsenic or heavy metal intoxication. He suggested the health problems were "fairly typical of that part of Sulawesi".


    He said while Newmont did not dispute many of the facts in a recent government-commissioned report that cited significant levels of mercury and arsenic in bay sediment, the issue is "applying appropriate and correct science to the facts".


    If that was done, the conclusion would be that water quality in the bay was fine and the sediments did not pose a threat to health, he said.


    A number of agencies and groups have been involved in several studies of the environmental situation in the area and have reached varying conclusions.


    Some analysts, citing the detention of five Newmont executives for several weeks during a police investigation, say regardless of the merits of the case Indonesia is treating Newmont more harshly than its own companies when faced with similar allegations.


    Environmentalists respond that the government has been too lenient in the past and should be more vigorous.

    02 Dez 2004 18:12



    02.12.2004 17:52:34 Gold ends sharply down in Europe as dollar firms



    * Gold ends lower in Europe as firmer dollar prompts profit-taking from earlier advance to $456.75 -- the highest since June 1988.


    * Spot gold slides to close at $446.65/447.40 by 1615 GMT, compared with $453.30/454.05 quoted late in New York on Wednesday.


    * Dollar rises on profit-taking in other currencies, with some viewing the greenback as oversold. Euro last at $1.3266 after hitting record peak at $1.3383.


    * Silver falls with gold after moving to its highest in eight months at $8.15. Silver last at $7.91/7.94, compared with $7.98/8.01 late in New York on Wednesday.


    Platinum moves up to $880.00/885.00 from $874.00/878.00, while palladium stands at $209.00/213.00 from $208.00/214.00 previously.


    02 Dez 2004 18:13



    02.12.2004 17:31:27 NY gold & silver drop from new highs; platinum up



    NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures slid off 16-year and contract highs on Thursday, and silver fell from an eight-month peak over $8 an ounce, on profit-taking after the dollar recovered from new lows against key rivals.


    Fund buying in the metals complex also lifted platinum futures to their strongest level since August at $887 an ounce.


    "I thought yesterday we'd see $900, but maybe I was just a day short. But it is in the offing," said Ralph D'Esposito at RJ Futures.


    Silver, relatively thinly traded, had been the surprise mover in the precious metals this week, said James Quinn, commodities commentator at AG Edwards & Sons, as funds bid it up quickly following gold's burst above $455 to within sight of $460.


    "Gold has traded to the highs, and now we're starting to see a little slippage in gold and silver. Personally, I think we're going to pull back a little bit," he said.


    February gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division fell $3.20 to $452.70 an ounce by 10:54 a.m. EST (1554 GMT), near a session low of $451.30, after trading down from $458.70 -- the highest for futures since July 1988.


    Analysts have expected a correction lower in gold, which has benefited from concerns about the falling dollar.


    The metal also has gained strength from the strongest bull move in commodities since the 1980s and by gold's role as a store of value amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.


    Additionally, traders often look to gold when crude oil is volatile. Oil fell to $44 a barrel Thursday, a day after suffering its biggest one-day loss in more than three years.


    "While the longer-term bullish mood still remains, the recent sharp increase in long positions and continued speculation of a dollar correction leaves gold and the other precious metals open to profit taking," James Moore of TheBullionDesk.com said in a daily note.


    Analysts pegged support in gold at $450 and $448, with resistance at $460.


    Spot gold traded at $450.30/1.00, down from an earlier 16-year peak at $456.75.


    The dollar struggled up from an all-time low against the euro and a five-year low versus the yen as dealers deliberated how far Europe and Japan would let their currencies rise before taking action.


    The European Central Bank decided at a meeting to keep its official interest rate at 2 percent, as expected, and bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said rate cuts were not discussed.


    The euro climbed to $1.3383 before edging down to $1.3313 by midmorning.


    March silver fell 10.0 to $7.98 an ounce, moving between $8.235 to $7.94. Silver futures hit $8.50 back in April. Spot silver traded at $7.91/94, compared with a high at $8.15.


    January platinum rose $8.20 to $886.80 an ounce. Spot platinum touched $879.00/884.00.


    March palladium lost 55 cents to $211. Spot palladium fetched $208.00/213.00.

    02 Dez 2004 18:25



    02.12.2004 18:18:32 Gold zeigt sich volatil



    London, 02. Dez (Reuters) - Der Goldkurs hat am Donnerstag in Europa mit 456,75 Dollar ein neues 16-Jahreshoch erreicht, nach einem zum Handelsende wieder etwas steigenden Dollar endete die Rally jedoch abrupt.


    Vor allem die Fonds hätten zunächst wieder einmal die Nachfrage kräftig gestärkt, hiess es. In London, Sydney und New York starteten an der Börse zudem Gold-Fonds, die auch für Kleinanleger den Goldkauf erleichterten.


    Dass der Goldmarkt derzeit spiegelbildlich auf die Dollar-Entwicklung reagiert und sehr volatil ist, zeigte sich am Nachmittag dann mit der Trendwende der US-Devise. Als der Dollar wegen Gewinnmitnahmen nach einem erneuten Rekordtief am Nachmittag zulegte, fiel Gold kurzzeitig sogar unter die 450 Dollar-Marke und notierte bei 449,20 Dollar.


    Ein schwacher Dollar verbilligt einerseits das in der US-Währung gehandelte Gold für Anleger aus anderen Währungsräumen. Andererseits ist Gold ein beliebter Schutz vor dem Dollarverfall.


    Zum Handelsende stand die Feinunze des Edelmetalls dann bei 450,60 Dollar und damit noch unter dem Vorabendkurs von 452,40/453,15 Dollar. Das Nachmittagsfixing in London erfolgte bei 454,20 Dollar, nach 454,35 Dollar am Vormittag und 452,85 Dollar am Mittwochnachmittag.


    Eine Schweizer Grossbank gab den Gold-Kilopreis mit 16.574/16.824 (Vorabend 16.527/16.777) sfr an.


    ish/och






    © Reuters 2004

    02 Dez 2004 20:45



    02.12.2004 20:42:56 NY gold, silver end below highs as dollar bounces



    NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures fell from 16-year and contract highs to close lower on Thursday, as a dollar rally sparked profit-taking, while silver tumbled back below $8 an ounce in volatile trading.


    Speculative buying helped lift platinum futures to their highest since April, however, as funds rotated into a metal that had been lagging gold's recent advance.


    February gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division ended down $3.60 at $452.30 an ounce, after trading between $448.70 and $458.70, which was the highest for futures since July 1988.


    "As soon as the dollar started to gain strength, the metals collapsed," said Scott Meyers, an analyst at Pioneer Futures. "Gold can't hold up without the euro being strong, and the same goes for silver. This is an international monetary issue that has nothing to do with supply and demand."


    The dollar rallied across the board as dealers pocketed profits in other currencies, which have climbed to highs in recent days.


    Some traders viewed the dollar as oversold, but analysts continued to cite poor underlying sentiment surrounding the long-term negatives weighing on the U.S. currency, including the wide U.S. current account deficit.


    Near-term price direction in gold remains dependent upon the dollar, said Meyers, who said markets would be focused on Friday's U.S. monthly employment report.


    The euro was near $1.3271 at midafternoon, off its earlier all-time peak at $1.3383


    Analysts have expected a correction lower in gold, which has benefited from concerns about the falling dollar.


    The metal also has gained strength from the strongest bull move in commodities since the 1980s and by gold's role as a store of value amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.


    Additionally, traders often look to gold when crude oil is volatile. Oil fell to $44 a barrel Thursday, a day after suffering its biggest one-day loss in more than three years.


    "While the longer-term bullish mood still remains, the recent sharp increase in long positions and continued speculation of a dollar correction leaves gold and the other precious metals open to profit-taking," James Moore of TheBullionDesk.com said in a daily note.


    Support in the yellow metal was at $450 and $448, analysts said, with resistance viewed at $460.


    Spot gold traded to $449.70/0.40, down from an earlier 16-year peak at $456.75 and Wednesday's late quote at $453.30/4.05. Thursday's afternoon London fix was at $454.20.


    March silver futures sank 12.0 cents to end at $7.96 an ounce. The contract reached as high as $8.235, its strongest since April, before touching a session low at $7.915.


    Silver futures peaked this year at $8.50 back in April.


    Spot silver priced at $7.87/90, below an eight-month high at $8.15 earlier and the prior close at $7.98/8.01. The London fix was at $8.04.


    January platinum settled up $5.60 at $884.20 an ounce, after reaching its highest since April 21 at $887. Spot platinum hit $878.00/883.00.


    March palladium lost $2.50 to $209.05. Spot palladium was down at $206.50/212.50.

    02 Dez 2004 20:47



    02.12.2004 20:31:31 NYMEX oil ends down below $44 as US inventories rise



    NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - NYMEX crude oil futures ended down more than $2 on Thursday, selling off for the second straight session on rising supplies of U.S. petroleum supplies.


    Extending Wednesday's $3.64 loss, which was crude's biggest one-day drop since September 2001, NYMEX oil for January delivery closed down $2.24 at $43.25 a barrel after sliding to a 12-week low of $42.50.


    January heating oil last traded at $1.2590 a gallon, down 7.03 cents, adding to its 8.90-cent loss on Wednesday. Its session nadir of $1.2475 marked its lowest level since Sept. 20.


    January gasoline last traded at $1.1420 a gallon, down 5.92 cents, after losing 8.34 cents on Wednesday. It traded as low as $1.1275 to post its cheapest price since Aug. 31.

    02 Dez 2004 20:49



    02.12.2004 18:53:25 Commodities News Summary



    TOP NEWS
    > CBOT corn, wheat slip to contract lows, soy weighs [nN0257532]


    CHICAGO - Chicago Board of Trade corn and wheat futures slipped to contract lows by Thursday's midsession as disappointing weekly export sales and weakness in soybeans weighed on grain prices, traders said.


    - - - -



    > LME copper sheds four pct as funds liquidate [nL0276259]


    LONDON - London Metal Exchange (LME) copper took a beating on Thursday as fund and technical selling hacked some four percent off prices, with further drops seen likely, analysts said.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 1-Europe gold drops off peaks on dollar reb [nL02601135]


    LONDON - Gold prices slid in Europe on Thursday as a dollar rally prompted profit-taking on an earlier advance to $456.75 an ounce, the market's highest since June 1988, dealers said.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 2-Bush chooses Nebraska governor as ag secr [nN02643049]


    WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush turned to Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns -- a surprise choice -- as his new agriculture secretary on Thursday.


    - - - -



    METALS > UPDATE 1-Norddeutsche shares up on tight copper sc [nL02705375]


    HAMBURG - Shares of Norddeutsche Affinerie (NAFG.DE), Europe's largest copper producer, rose more than 5 percent on Thursday after it said that copper scrap supplies were tight.


    - - - -



    > Barrick to buy into Russia-operating gold miner [nL02695657]


    MOSCOW - Canada's Barrick Gold Corp. (/ABX.TO) plans to spend $28 million to buy a 9 percent stake in Celtic Resources Holding Plc (/CER.L), a London-listed company with gold interests in Russia, Barrick said on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 1-Gold Fields-Iamgold vote set for bitter s [nL02395312]


    JOHANNESBURG - A key ballot next week by shareholders of South African bid target Gold Fields (/GFIJ.J) was set for a showdown after hostile suitor Harmony Gold vowed on Thursday to cast disputed votes.


    - - - -



    > Western banks grant Norilsk $400 mln credit [nL0282932]


    MOSCOW - A group of Western banks will open an unsecured revolving credit line to Russia's metals giant Norilsk Nickel (/GMKN.RTS) for $400 million for one year with extension options, Norilsk said on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > Alcoa restarts Massena East plant, West by year en [nN02643209]


    NEW YORK - Alcoa Inc. (/AA.N), the world's largest aluminum producer, said on Thursday it restarted idled capacity at its Massena East primary aluminum smelter in New York in early November and the Massena West smelter should be fully operational by year end.


    - - - -



    GRAINS, OILSEEDS, LIVESTOCK
    > EU sells free-market barley, intervention rye [nL02717609]


    PARIS - The European Union's grain management committee agreed to sell 132,750 tonnes of free-market barley with a maximum export subsidy of 17.99 euros a tonne, grain trade lobby Coceral said on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > France's ONIC to cut wheat export forecasts -trade [nL0241522]


    PARIS - French grain office ONIC will cut its estimate of France's 2004/05 wheat exports by 200,000 tonnes next week, reflecting tough world markets due to dollar weakness and firm freight rates, traders said on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > Global durum wheat crop up 13 pct this year-USDA [nN02646628]


    WASHINGTON - Global output of durum wheat in 2004/05 will total an estimated 33 million tonnes, up 13 percent from the previous year, due mostly to Europe's record harvest, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > Russia taunts EU with new food import bans [nL02521405]


    AMSTERDAM - Russia has peppered the European Union with fresh food import bans just months after the resolution of a bitter meat export row, and analysts and diplomats say the bans may be a sign of strife to come.


    - - - -



    SOFT COMMODITIES
    > UPDATE 1-Ivory Coast late November rains mixed [nL02677817]


    ABIDJAN - Rains in Ivory Coast's key cocoa growing regions were mixed in the last 10 days of November, data showed on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > Ivory Coast 2003/04 cocoa stocks put at 62,319T [nL02585239]


    ABIDJAN - Cocoa stocks left over from Ivory Coast's 2003/04 (Oct-Sept) season totalled 62,319 tonnes, compared with 64,071 tonnes in the previous year, data collected by the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse showed on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > UPDATE 1-Vietnam seeks to raise quality of export [nHAN10875]


    HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam, the world's largest robusta coffee producer and exporter, hopes to increase the amount of high-quality beans in its exports, an industry official said on Thursday.


    - - - -



    > Brazil Nov sugar exports rise 42 pct on yr - gov't [nN02712057]


    RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Brazil's total sugar exports rose 42 percent, to 1.55 million tonnes in November from 1.09 million tonnes in the same month in 2003, the Trade Ministry's foreign trade secretariat said.


    - - - -



    MARKETS
    > London cocoa futures sets new turnover records [nL02704953]


    LONDON - Euronext.liffe on Thursday said its Londodn cocoa futures market traded a record 409,073 contracts in November, 46 percent more than the previous monthly record set in July.


    - - - -



    > NYBOT and eSpeed renegotiate electronic trade deal [nN02328710]


    NEW YORK - The New York Board of Trade and Cantor Fitzgerald's eSpeed (/ESPD.O) unit said Thursday they have renegotiated their agreement covering electronic trading at the exchange.


    - - - -



    > LME ups annual fees, lowers contract levies [nL02454938]


    LONDON - The London Metal Exchange (LME) said on Thursday it was increasing some annual subscriptions from January 1 and would use the additional income to reduce contract levies.


    - - - -

    03 Dez 2004 13:31



    03.12.2004 12:40:42 Gold consolidates in Europe, focus on US data



    LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Gold traded in a narrow band on Friday morning in Europe as the market focused on currency moves ahead of key U.S. jobs data later in the day.


    Dealers said bullion was in consolidation mode after falling sharply from its highest since June 1988 at $456.75 per ounce, as a dollar rally from record lows versus the euro sparked profit-taking.


    Spot gold was at $449.30/450.00 by 1128 GMT, compared with $449.70/450.40 late in New York on Thursday.


    "The market is holding a narrow level and I think it will continue doing that ahead of the payrolls number," a dealer said.


    "It's a big number which could have a big impact on the dollar and that in turn cold impact gold," he added.


    The dollar steadied above this week's record low against the euro as investors lightened bets on further dollar losses ahead of U.S. jobs figures due at 1330 GMT. The euro was last at $1.3284.


    An upbeat reading could highlight the relative strength of the U.S. economy and the forgotten attraction of U.S. assets -- sucking cash out of gold as an alternative investment.


    "Today's trading session will likely be choppy, as the market remains nervously positioned going into the U.S. payrolls release," Alexander Zumpfe of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said in a daily report.


    James Moore of TheBullionDesk.com said gold should find good scaled-down buying, primarily from physical sources but also from investors keen to enter the market.


    "Support should be seen at $445 but I think we could see gold dip as low as $438-40 as we start to see early year-end book squaring," he said in a report.


    Silver ticked lower, extending the heavy drop from an eight-month high of $8.15 in the previous session.


    Spot silver was last at $7.82/7.85 compared with $7.87/7.90 late on Thursday in New York, with dealers expecting the market to take further direction from gold's moves.


    Platinum slipped back to $868.00/872.00 from $878.00/883.00 previously, while palladium also eased to $205.00/210.00 from $206.50/212.50.

    03 Dez 2004 13:41



    03.12.2004 13:33:26 Silver fix sharply down, Europe gold little changed



    * Silver fixes sharply lower at 783.00 cents compared with previous fix at 804.00. Spot trades narrowly after tumbling sharply in line with losses on gold in the previous session. Last at $7.82/7.85 from $7.86/7.88.


    * Silver forward rates on Reuters page indicated at 2.042, 2.002, 1.926 and 1.692 for one, three, six and 12 months respectively.


    * Gold little changed at $449.80/450.50 an ounce at 1227 GMT compared with $449.70/450.40 late in New York on Thursday.


    * Gold investors look to U.S. payrolls data at 1330 GMT, which may move dollar. Euro/dollar rate virtually unchanged from late in New York.


    * Platinum at $868.00/872.00 from $878.00/883.00, while palladium at $205.00/210.00, down 50 cents.

    03 Dez 2004 17:10



    03.12.2004 17:00:08 Commodities News Summary



    TOP NEWS
    > NY gold off early but over $450, other metals mixe [nN03378071]


    NEW YORK - U.S. gold futures eased but held above $450 an ounce on Friday morning, as the dollar's fall after an unexpectedly weak U.S. payrolls report for November failed to trigger much buying, traders said.


    Silver had trouble holding above $8 an ounce, due to fund and trade selling, as markets digested the employment numbers, while platinum slipped from Thursday's eight-month peak.


    - - - -



    > Gold consolidates in Europe as dollar weakens [nL03705450]


    LONDON - Gold dipped slightly in Europe on Friday afternoon, with the market in a narrow solid band despite sharp currency reaction to a key report on the U.S. labour market.


    The dollar dropped to within a hair's breadth of record lows against the euro after the U.S. payrolls report for November was unexpectedly weak.


    - - - -



    > Dollar, freight and subsidies haunt EU wheat marke [nL01713004]


    PARIS - European wheat prices will remain in the doldrums unless exports pick up sharply as a weak dollar, high freight rates and uncertainty over EU subsidies continue to haunt the market, traders said on Friday.


    After big harvests in Europe, exporters are finding it tough, with strong competition from traditional wheat suppliers such as the United States and Argentina, but also from producers such as Ukraine and Russia.


    - - - -



    METALS > COMEX copper continues slide, dollar lends support [nN03364351]


    NEW YORK - Follow-through technical selling hit copper futures at the open on Friday as the market continued to correct from recent highs, although a weaker dollar offered some support, floor sources said.


    - - - -



    > Alcoa reaches labor pacts at 2 U.S. facilities [nWEN0690]


    NEW YORK - Alcoa Inc. (/AA.N), the world's largest aluminum producer, on Friday said it reached multiyear labor agreements with workers at facilities in Georgia and Kentucky.


    Alcoa said it signed three-year pacts with unionized workers at the Tifton Aluminum facility in Tifton, Georgia, and the Hawesville, Kentucky, automotive casting center.


    - - - -



    > Zinc market seen in deficit to 2006 -Deutsche [nL03717453]


    LONDON - The global zinc market looks set to stay undersupplied through to 2006 after moving into deficit this year for the first time since 1999, Deutsche Bank said on Friday.


    - - - -



    > With plastics prices soaring, LME ready to deal [nL03392820]


    LONDON - Price prospects look good for plastics futures that debut on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2005, but traders are having to come to grips with what will be a completely new way of trading on the 127-year old exchange.


    Traders said plastics prices are rising strongly -- some 50 to 60 percent over the last six months -- setting the scene for the contract launch that is now less than six months away.


    - - - -



    GRAINS, OILSEEDS, LIVESTOCK > Rain, big crop, imports hit S.Africa maize prices [nLA494333]


    JOHANNESBURG - South African maize prices finished the week well down, undermined by imports, good rains, a larger than predicted crop and competition on export markets, traders said.


    - - - -



    > Zimbabwe secretly importing maize, opposition says [nL03388523]


    HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition party believes President Robert Mugabe's government has secretly imported maize to cover-up a major grain shortfall in the country, a party official said on Friday.


    - - - -



    SOFT COMMODITIES > Quality of EU 2004/05 sugar crop seen higher [nL03170836]


    LONDON - Prospects for EU beet sugar crop quality in 2004/05 are encouraging and sugar yields will be similar to 2003, European analysts said on Friday.


    "Exceptional planting densities and root weights across Europe meant a better than expected crop could be possible,"


    - - - -



    > London coffee falls over 4 pct on profit-taking [nL03551591]


    LONDON - London robusta coffee futures fell more than four percent on Friday as speculators took profits after the previous session's highs, traders said.


    LIFFE's January contract was at $742 a tonne at 1023 GMT after reaching as low as $740. The contract reached $790 on Thursday, its highest level in five and a half months but off the day's peak at $774.


    - - - -



    > London cocoa stable as market eyes Ivory Coast [nL03315934]


    LONDON - London cocoa prices hovered around unchanged on Friday as origin supplies trickled through but industry remained nervous of any new outbreaks of violence in Ivory Coast, traders said.


    LIFFE March was one pound weaker by 1317 GMT at 898 pounds a tonne on turnover of 1,240 lots in an 889-901 range. It accounted for most of the 2,093 lot volume.


    - - - -



    > Europe's physical cocoa prices down on good supply [nEUCOC1]


    LONDON - Differentials in Europe's cash cocoa market fell during the past week as a calmer climate in Ivory Coast improved supply, dealers said on Friday.


    "There's ongoing supply, it's flowing at the moment so the pressure is coming off the differentials," one trader said.


    - - - -

    03 Dez 2004 17:12



    03.12.2004 16:42:20 NY gold off early but over $450, other metals mixed



    NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures eased but held above $450 an ounce on Friday morning, as the dollar's fall after an unexpectedly weak U.S. payrolls report for November failed to trigger much buying, traders said.


    Silver had trouble holding above $8 an ounce, due to fund and trade selling, as markets digested the employment numbers, while platinum slipped from Thursday's eight-month peak.


    "Gold's still following the dollar," said a desk trader. "Crude oil is sitting against its lows and the dollar is still weak, so the macroeconomic indicators are conflicting," he added. "But I am cautiously bullish."


    By 10:27 a.m. EST (1527 GMT), February gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division was off $1.20 at $451.10 an ounce, moving from $450.50 to $455.50.


    The price was well below Thursday's 16-year high for futures at $458.70.


    Analysts have said a correction lower in gold was to be expected after it made fresh highs almost daily in the past two weeks in a rally sparked by concerns about the falling dollar.


    The dollar dropped to within a whisker of record lows against the euro on Friday, after a surprisingly soft 112,000 new U.S. jobs were created in November, the weakest figure since July and well below Wall Street expectations of 180,000.


    The jobless rate was 5.4 percent, matching forecasts.


    The data hurt the dollar because it cast doubt on the pace of the U.S. economic recovery and the pace at which the Federal Reserve would continue to raise interest rates, analysts said.


    The euro was up at $1.3361 at midmorning, against around $1.33 before the payrolls report and compared with Thursday's all-time peak at $1.3383.


    Gold prices have gained strength from the strongest bull move in commodities since the 1980s as well as from its role as a store of value amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.


    Crude oil's sharp decline this week seemed to sap interest in gold as an alternative investment. Oil fell to almost $42 a barrel Friday.


    Spot gold fetched $448.00/8.70, versus Thursday's late quote in New York at $449.70/0.40. Friday's afternoon London fix was at $448.65.


    Brokers pegged support in gold at $450 and $448, with resistance at $460.


    March silver futures lost 6.0 cents to $7.90 an ounce, trading from $8.08 to $7.87. The contract hit an eight-month high at $8.235 Thursday and peaked this year at $8.50 in April.


    Spot silver touched $7.81/84, down from $7.87/90 previously. The London fix was at $7.83.


    In platinum, dollar strength overnight fueled profit-taking in Japan, before prices recovered a bit in London.


    "Basically, it's tracking gold and silver right now," an analyst at a precious metals refiner said.


    "The market is still leveraged to the long side -- I'd call it maybe a bit overbought -- but I think it's going to hang around here. I think we're going to see pretty decent scale-down buying if we do trade lower."


    January platinum fell $12.70 to $871.50 an ounce, after spiking to $887 on Thursday -- its highest since April. Spot platinum traded to $868.00/872.00.


    March palladium rose 85 cents to $209.90. Spot palladium touched $205/210.

    03 Dez 2004 21:13



    03.12.2004 20:55:05 NY gold closes higher as euro scales record peak



    NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures rallied in afternoon trading on Friday, closing just shy of Thursday's 16-year high, as the market tracked the euro's jump to a record high against the dollar, traders and analysts said.


    The euro hit an all-time high at $1.3458 , extending the dollar's slip after a surprisingly soft U.S. payrolls report in the morning, in a broad sell-off driven partly by stop-loss sell orders.


    Some traders said the euro was also spurred by a report in a German newspaper citing a high-ranking U.S. Treasury official as saying the United States would intervene to support the dollar only if the euro/dollar rate reached $1.45.


    "People took the opportunity to sell more dollars and as they sold dollars gold goes higher," said Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management.


    "Things look quite good for gold. We are basically almost at the target of $460, and I would think that $465-$480 is very possible."


    In other precious metals, silver ended above $8 an ounce, in line with gold's rise, but platinum slipped from its prior eight-month peak.


    Benchmark February delivery gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division settled at $457.80 an ounce, up $5.50, after zigzagging from $450.10 to $458.20, and just missing the 16-year high reached Thursday at $458.70.


    After the close, the exchange introduced its first Friday afternoon ACCESS electronic trading session, which it said was aimed at accommodating a growing marketplace for metals products. COMEX gold and silver firmed slightly.


    The new trading session runs on Fridays from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST (1900 to 2130 GMT).


    Gold briefly slumped lower in the morning but held above support at $450. Analysts had been expecting a technical correction after new highs almost daily in the past two weeks in a rally sparked by concerns about the falling dollar.


    The dollar accelerated its slide Friday morning after a surprisingly soft 112,000 new U.S. jobs were created in November, the Labor Department said -- the weakest figure since July and well below Wall Street expectations of 180,000.


    The jobless rate was 5.4 percent, matching forecasts.


    The data hurt the greenback as it cast doubt on the pace of the U.S. economic recovery and the timing of Federal Reserve's interest rate increases, analysts said.


    The euro was last at $1.3446.


    Spot gold climbed to $455.45/6.20 from Thursday's late quote in New York at $449.70/0.40. Friday's afternoon fix in London was at $448.65.


    COMEX March silver rose 8.3 cents to end at $8.043 an ounce, moving between $7.84 and $8.09. Silver on Thursday hit an eight-month high at $8.235 and has peaked this year at $8.50, back in April.


    Spot silver traded to $7.99/8.02, up from $7.87/90 previously. The London fix was at $7.83.


    Platinum fell after selling that started overnight in Japan, said an analyst at a precious metals refiner.


    "The market is still leveraged to the long side -- I'd call it maybe a bit overbought -- but I think it's going to hang around here. I think we're going to see pretty decent scale-down buying if we do trade lower."


    January platinum lost $9.40 to $874.80 an ounce, after spiking to $887 on Thursday -- its highest since April. Spot platinum hit $868.00/872.00.


    March palladium eased $2.30 to $206.75. Spot palladium was at $202/207.

    Zitat

    After the close, the exchange introduced its first Friday afternoon ACCESS electronic trading session, which it said was aimed at accommodating a growing marketplace for metals products. COMEX gold and silver firmed slightly.


    Zitat

    The new trading session runs on Fridays from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST (1900 to 2130 GMT).


    Handel nun Freitags bis 22h30 unserer Zeit,Nachtigall ick hör dir trapsen..........

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