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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: long-gone who wrote (75641)	8/29/2001 12:05:33 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116915

Tuesday August 28, 4:10 pm Eastern Time NY PGMs up as Russia withholds supply, gold sags NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Palladium shot to an 18-day high in New York futures trade Tuesday, after top-producer Russia said it had suspended its precious metals exports on Saturday. The move started overseas and was exaggerated by thin markets as London bullion traders got their bearings after a bank holiday Monday and New Yorkers avoided risk before the U.S. three-day weekend for Labor Day this Monday. ADVERTISEMENT A Finance Ministry source said Tuesday that Russia, which produces two-thirds of the world's palladium, suspended precious metals exports due to the absence of a mechanism for their control. NYMEX September palladium <0#PA:> gapped up $25.25 to $472.50 an ounce, touching its highest level since August 10. Turnover was estimated at 370 contracts, much heavier than the recent norm for the super illiquid market. ``Looking at the last year or so, that's pretty heavy but it is still rather thin,'' said a refinery dealer. ``But nothing has been done to change fundamentals, which are still a in state of oversupply.'' Spot palladium was quoted at $465/$475, versus $444/454 at the close. A Russian presidential decree on the rules for the imports and export of precious metals and gems became effective on August 25, although a system of control over these operations was not prepared in time. The decree signed by President Vladimir Putin in June has long been sought by gold and silver producers, as it allowed them direct exports of the metals. Previously only the government and banks were allowed to export precious metals. The supply news was reminiscent of the situation in 1999, when palladium prices began to soar because Russian exports were blocked for the entire year due to a loosely-worded law amended only in 2000. Palladium peaked in January of 2001 near $1,100 an ounce, an all-time record. But Russia has been selling for months and slow economic growth has reduced demand from auto makers, who use palladium and platinum in catalytic converters to reduce tailpipe pollution. Dealers said it was unclear how long the export curtailment would last this time. October platinum <0#PL:> ended up $2.80 at $461 an ounce. Spot platinum last fetched $463/468. Because South Africa is the largest platinum producer -- Russia only produces about a fifth of world supply -- platinum prices were little affected by the Russia news. At the COMEX, December gold <0#GC:> ended down 50 cents at $274.40. It recovering from an early fall to $272.60, a new low since August 9, after a report showing a surprising drop in U.S. consumer confidence in July sent the dollar tumbling and revived the euro. ``The dollar faltered late in the day, coming almost 100 points off its high on the dollar index,'' said analyst David Meger at Alaron Trading. "Obviously gold had a slight rebound, closing only 50 cents lower today. A bullion dealer added: ``Any time, it seems of late, we get news that it looks like more rate cuts are coming, it's positive for gold.'' Spot gold was quoted at $271.90/2.40, down from $272.50/3.00 at the close. It fixed at $271.05 late Tuesday. The market is very overbought. But open interest has dropped almost 9,000 contracts since Friday, reducing the cumbersome net long of 39,534 on the books big speculators last week, dealers said. September silver <0#SI:> was down 1.4 cents at $4.183 an ounce, trading $4.205-$4.18. Spot silver closed at $4.19/21, down from the close at $4.21/23 and Tuesday's fix at $4.21. biz.yahoo.com