Gold breaks through the $300 level
By Caroline Fossey
Gold broke through $300 an ounce in London again yesterday and was "fixed" at $300.80 in the afternoon.
The price has risen steadily this week and hit $301.40, its highest price since May 22, yesterday morning. Analysts attributed the rise to a weaker US dollar and the turmoil in world stock markets.
On the oil markets, November Brent blend fell to $13.93 before rallying to $14.08 in late trading on London's International Petroleum Exchange. This was 3 cents below Thursday's close when the market lost 57 cents.
The market was awaiting the outcome of a meeting between the oil ministers of Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, which began in Cancun, Mexico, yesterday. But the ministers played down expectations, saying the meeting would not lead to further output cuts.
Talks to end a strike by 400 workers at South Africa's Impala Platinum Holdings broke down when union negotiators rejected an offer of an 8 per cent increase in basic wages.
The strike, which began on Wednesday, affects Implat's precious and base metals refineries. Both were operating at half-capacity yesterday, after Implat won a labour court ruling to restart the precious metals refinery. It could take up to eight weeks to clear the backlog.
The precious metals refinery produces 4,000 ounces of platinum and 2,000 ounces of palladium a day.
On the London Metal Exchange, three-month zinc hit a three-year low, dropping from Thursday's close of $997 to close at $973 a tonne. Three-month copper lost just $7 to end at $1,617 a tonne in spite of pressure from early fund selling.
December cocoa rallied from Thursday's close of £999 a tonne to end the week at £1,005, after a rush of buyers on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange.
November coffee was down $18 at $1,650 a tonne. Cooxupe, Brazil's leading coffee co-operative, said output from the country's 1999-2000 crop could fall to below 25m 60kg bags, well below the 34m bags forecast for the 1998-99 season.
Financial Times |
