Gold price 'fixed' lower in London
By Paul Solman and Robert Corzine
Gold was "fixed" at $288.90 an ounce in London yesterday afternoon - almost $3 lower than the Monday afternoon fix. Traders said the fall was a reaction to the televised testimony of US President Bill Clinton.
"The release of the Clinton video failed to produce the expected fireworks," said Kamal Naqvi at Macquarie Bank. Gold is seen as a safe haven for investors in times of instability and tends to react inversely to movements in the US dollar.
Later in Europe, gold closed slightly higher at $289.70 against Monday's New York close of $289.20 as Wall Street shares fell and the dollar weakened.
Meanwhile, Jerry Ellis, chairman of BHP, said the Australian resources group was "more pessimistic about long-term copper prices than we were a year ago". BHP was forecasting a price of 95 US cents a pound in real terms and expected copper to stay below that price in the near term.
On the London Metal Exchange, three-month copper closed at $1,641.00 a tonne against $1,644 on Monday.
Crude oil prices were hit by profit-taking yesterday, with the bellwether Brent Blend for November delivery shedding 25 cents in early trading on London's International Petroleum Exchange.
Brent hit a low for the day of $14.13 a barrel before recovering in later trading to $14.34, just four cents down on the previous close.
On Monday, the November Brent contract hit a three-and-a-half month high of $14.45 a barrel, in large part because of the threat of hurricane Georges to refineries in the Caribbean.
Financial Times |
