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Strategies & Market Trends : Commodities - The Coming Bull Market -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: craig crawford who wrote (582)	7/23/2001 4:02:25 AM
From: craig crawford	Respond to of 1643

Thursday July 19, 1:59 pm Eastern Time COMMODITIES-Platinum, copper hit fresh lows biz.yahoo.com By Adrian Dascalu LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - Platinum prices hit new lows in Europe on Thursday, with the downturn reflecting overnight losses in Japanese futures. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper prices fell to a fresh three-year low in a nervous, fund-dominated market. In other markets, London cocoa futures firmed on the back of a bounce in New York markets while sugar futures ended the session higher amid light selling. PLATINUM DIPS TO NEW LOWS ON JAPAN SALES Platinum was fixed at $515.00 a troy ounce in the afternoon, its lowest fix since May 18, 2000. Traders cited long liquidation on the Tokyo market as short-sellers took profits before the long weekend, as being the most likely cause of the further price decline. ``Long liquidation overnight in Japan has had an impact on trading in Europe today and has undermined sentiment,'' said one. `The dollar is also beginning to claw back some of the ground it lost and a strong dollar is negative for PGMs (precious group metals),'' he added. Palladium revisited Wednesday's lows of $512.00 a troy ounce, as worries about Russian supply evaporated and depressed demand continued to dog the market. Spot gold ended the European session at $269.10/$269.60. ``The market is thin and gold has given up the gains it made yesterday because the dollar has recovered some of the ground it lost and the euro has eased somewhat,'' said one. A firmer dollar makes dollar-denominated gold bullion less attractive to European investors and consumers. COPPER HITS FRESH THREE-YEAR LOW ON FUND ACTIVITY Copper prices dipped to fresh three-year lows on the back of aggressive fund activity. ``The funds are still in the ascendant and they're keeping the pressure on,'' said J.P. Morgan analyst Martin Squires. Three months copper ended the day at $1,541 a tonne, down $30 from Wednesday, the lowest level since July 1999. The market was bolstered in early trade by the strength of the euro against the U.S. dollar, but the gloomy economic outlook continues to deter buyers. Aluminium ended the session down $11 at $1,441, while nickel fell $120 to $5,940. Zinc slipped back $4 to $868/69, and tin closed the day down $85 at $4,335/40. Only lead bucked the declining trend, ending the session up $4 at $472. COCOA UP ON NEW YORK BOUNCE London cocoa futures were encouraged by a bounce in the New York market and closed the session firmer but traders said they saw prices remaining around current levels over the quiet summer months. September cocoa gained 22 pounds to 702 a tonne, while second month December gained 21 pounds to 720 a tonne. LIFFE white sugar futures consolidated their intra-day gains amid selling on the front month by trade houses, with front month October ending at $250.00, up from 249.70 in the previus session and December $2 up at $242.00. Key prices at 1600 GMT: THURSDAY WEDNESDAY Ldn Spot Gold ($/oz, Europe close) 269.10 268.50 IPE Brent Crude Oil (Sept) 24.80 24.36 London Metal Exchange (Three months delivery) Copper ($ per tonne) 1,541.00 1,571.00 Aluminium ($ per tonne) 1,441.00 1,452.00 LIFFE Coffee ($/tonne) (Sept, close) 525.00 527.00 Cocoa (Sterling/tonne)(Sept, close) 702.00 680.00 White Sugar ($/tonne) (Oct) 250.00 249.70 CBOT wheat ($/bushel) (Sept) 2.89 2.91