Gold quiet in Europe, ignores
SNB sales remarks
06:44 a.m. Apr 20, 1999 Eastern
LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - Gold
held below $285.00 in early European
trade on Tuesday, not even flickering on
a senior Swiss national banker's remarks
that reserve sales would be impossible
for a least a year.
London gold fixed at $284.55 a troy
ounce in the morning, just up on
Monday afternoon's $284.20, having
failed to react to comments by Swiss
National Bank board member Bruno
Gehrig.
''The earliest possible moment at which
the SNB can sell the first kilogram of
gold will be in one year's time,'' he told
Reuters in an interview.
Swiss voters agreed on Sunday to
changes paving the way for eventual
sales of around half of the SNB's 2,600
tonnes of gold.
Gehrig said the constitutional changes
agreed last weekend made it possible
for the SNB to sell gold but did not yet
allow it to transfer gold or sales
proceeds outside the bank.
''They are so afraid of disrupting the
market that they will probably sell it a lot
slower than they might have,'' said one
London dealer, who projected a
10-year programme for sales of up to
1,300 tonnes of Swiss gold.
''This will be overhanging the market for
years when there could be assorted
other sales around from the likes of the
IMF and other central banks. Gold runs
a danger of being depressed for a long
time,'' he added.
Dealers saw gold trading quietly for the
duration on Tuesday, holding in a range
of $286.00 to $282.00. Spot was last
unchanged versus Monday's New York
close of $284.60/284.90.
Silver settled from Monday's run
towards $5.20 bid, taking its cue from
copper's quiet trade on the London
Metal Exchange.
''Strong resistance is anticipated again
at the $5.20 level basis spot. With the
base metals having given strength to
silver recently...any selling is also
expected to impact upon silver,'' said
one dealer.
Spot was last just easier at $5.15/$5.17,
a cent below New York's Monday
close.
Palladium set a fresh 11-month high with
its London morning fix of $384.00 a
troy ounce, its highest since May 20 and
up $3.00 on Monday's previous record.
One London dealer said trade-house
buying on Japan's TOCOM exchange
led the charge in spot price rises after
yen-based palladium futures ended limit
up in Tokyo.
Platinum was up 50 cents on New York
at $364.00/$366.00.
((Patrick Chalmers, London Newsroom
+44 171 542 8057.
london.commodities.desk+reuters.com))
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.
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