Monday December 21, 11:55 am Eastern Time
Gold slips in Europe, Russian palladium bought
LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Gold slipped again during late European trade on Monday, continuing its recent bearish trend, as Russian offers of palladium found ready buyers anticipating renewed supply delays in 1999, dealers said. London gold fixed at $289.65 a troy ounce in the afternoon versus the morning's $289.95 before hitting tops near $289.00 and slipping lower.
Gold ended a thin day's trade in London at $288.70/$289.20, 30 cents down on Friday's New York close.
''Gold's in a new range having broken below $290.50 so there could be increased volatility although the holiday season could preempt that,'' said one London dealer.
''There's some physical demand out of Asia and in Europe to stop it cascading lower,'' he added.
Palladium recorded decent volumes on both the morning and afternoon fixes in London though prices moved little as Russian sales met willing buyers among consumers and speculative operators, one dealer said.
Trade in palladium, used to make vehicle emission reduction catalysts, in electronics and dentistry, has migrated increasingly to the London fixes and directly between parties as the $5.00 bid/offer spread on spot has deterred business.
''I think the Russians have come back into the market. There were certainly sales on Friday and there have been sales again today,'' he said.
''There were some very good buyers again in the market. Whatever the Russians are selling doesn't really affect the price much although $330 (hit last week) was a bit overdone,'' he said, adding that speculative buying was certainly evident.
Spot prices were volatile through Europe but ended little changed at $306.00/$311.00, just $1.00 up on Friday's New York close.
Silver also ended little changed, down two cents at $4.93/$4.96, but that reflected minimal interest rather than a balance of busy buyers and sellers.
Platinum closed a bit weaker in London at $342.50/$344.50, $2.50 down on New York's Friday close.
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