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To: 4figureau who wrote (2707)	1/16/2003 9:59:54 PM
From: 4figureau	Respond to of 5423

GLOBAL MARKETS-Gold, oil near highs on Iraq war fears Reuters, 01.16.03, 9:22 PM ET SINGAPORE, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near six-year highs, oil held near two-year peaks and the dollar floundered near three-year lows against the euro on Friday on renewed concern over a possible war with Iraq. Investors fled for the safety of gold and bonds after a cache of empty chemical warheads was found by U.N. arms inspectors in Iraq and chief inspector Hans Blix said Baghdad needed to submit credible evidence it had no arms of mass destruction or face war. Tokyo shares bucked expectations of lower stocks in Asia after U.S. tech shares fell in after-hours trading in the wake of earnings reports from Microsoft and International Business Machines which suggested the industry would be slow to recover. Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> was up around one percent at 8,693.56 on easing worries over the country's financial system. "Basically, investors are slowly realising that no major banks are going to fail this year. Crisis worries are receding," said a trader at a major domestic brokerage. But traders did not expect the Nikkei to gain significant ground because of the retreat in U.S. tech stocks and the pressure on the dollar over Iraq. Microsoft announced a two-for-one stock split and said it would begin paying a dividend as it posted expectation-beating quarterly earnings. But the software giant's chief financial officer said the company did not expect a significant upturn in global spending on information technology in the short-term. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> fell one percent to 1,423.75, while the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped just 0.29 percent to 8,697.87. Nasdaq futures on Globex <NDH3> were down around one percent in after-hours trade. Crude oil futures eased in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after hitting two-year highs in New York on concerns over Iraq. Front-month February crude <CLG3> was quoted at $33.62 per barrel, down four cents from Thursday's close in New York, where the contract settled 45 cents higher at $33.66. It earlier hit a two-year high of $33.98. Spot gold was quoted at US$356.25/7.00 after jumping to $358.50 on Thursday, its highest level since March 1997. The dollar stayed on the defensive in Asia. It was quoted at $1.0604/09 against the euro after hitting $1.0627 <EUR=> in New York, its lowest level since October 1999. The greenback was quoted at 118.00/05 against the yen <JPY=>. forbes.com