12/17/98 - CLOSING N.Y. METALS COMMENTS: PART 2
<Picture>
Magilligan commented that there didn"t appear to be much buying interest in gold due to the missile attack on Iraq, which may have soured interest. "That may have set the stage for when the Swiss story came out," he said.
When asked why the missile attacks did not support prices, Magilligan answered: "It doesn"t seem to have much impact any more."
He added that this also could have been at least partly due to the fact the action did not include troop movements and there does not appear to be a risk of strong Iraqi opposition or heavy U.S. and British casualties.
"Maybe there"s a sense of no confrontation," he said. "It didn"t seem to affect the metals prices."
Platinum has been firming lately on the back of the gains in palladium that had been induced by Russian supply worries, Magilligan and floor traders reported.
"But it (platinum"s gains) may have been overdone," said Magilligan. "There"s been enough platinum around in the marketplace that it"s not a concern. But when palladium ran up $30 in the last couple of days, it dragged the platinum price up with it.
"But with gold prices down and silver down, there was some realization there is enough platinum around and it"s not really tight. Palladium stayed up, but everything else dropped off, kicked off by the Swiss story."
January platinum lost $7.20 to $349.50. March palladium, meanwhile, has surged from a settlement of $291.50 on Monday to a contract high of $332 today due to the absence of Russian spot sales lately. A week or two ago, there had been anticipation of such sales ahead of the year-end on thoughts cash-strapped Russia would try to generate cash before export licenses expired.
At the same time the sales are dried up, market participants are worried that 1999 will bring a repeat of the Russian supply disruptions that occurred at the beginning of 1998 and 1997.
March palladium closed $9 higher at $326.90.
(If you have questions or comments about this story, e- mail Allen Sykora at allens@fwn.com.)
End |
