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Gold/Mining/Energy : A to Z Junior Mining Research Site -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ralfph who wrote (2792)	1/21/2003 1:00:00 PM
From: 4figureau	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5423

Gold price jumps after Bush comments Tuesday January 21, 12:31 pm ET By Clare Black LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Gold climbed back towards near six-year highs in Europe on Tuesday after U.S. President George W.Bush said it was clear that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was not complying with U.N. resolutions for him to disarm. Spot gold finished the European session at $356.90/356.95 an ounce, up from the session low of $353.80 posted before Bush's comments. "He's delaying. He's deceiving. He's playing hide and seek with inspectors," Bush told reporters after meeting a group of economists at the White House. "It's clear to me now that he is not disarming...He's been given ample time to disarm," Bush said. "Time is running out." Gold is 25 percent higher than at this time last year, making it one of the best performing financial assets, but the market is off this month's near six-year high of $358.50. The average gold price is seen rising 10.5 percent in 2003 due to further weakness in an already ailing dollar and the metal's reputation as a safe-haven asset, a Reuters poll of leading metals analysts showed. The global survey of 21 analysts forecast that gold would average $342.50 in 2003, up 10.5 percent on 2002, then drop back slightly to $340.00 in 2004, still up 9.7 percent on 2002 prices. Analysts said prices would remain volatile in 2003 and that their forecasts could change significantly depending on the outcome of any war in Iraq and how the dollar fared against major currencies. "Basically this is a very complicated world where, contrary to the experience of the 1990s, having some gold insurance in your portfolio is a good idea," said Nick Moore, metals analyst with JP Morgan Securities Ltd. NICKEL CLIMBS FURTHER ON NORILSK Nickel remained at 2-1/2 year peaks on renewed rumblings over a stoppage at number one producer Norilsk Nickel in Russia. "There was panic in the air this morning -- above $8,100 it looks very good," a trader said. The metal notched up gains of $140 to close at $8,440, having peaked at $8,625 earlier in the day. Russian metals giant Norilsk said late on Tuesday that the only way to meet union pay demands in full could be to lay off 8,000 workers. A trade union representing around a quarter of the division's 60,000 employees said it would decide next week whether to call a strike over demands for a 17 percent pay rise. Lead and zinc struck their highest levels in one month on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in response to the imminent closure of a Metaleurop plant in France, although they fell back towards the end of the day. Lead closed at $464.50 a tonne, while zinc finished at $813 a tonne, both virtually unchanged on the previous session and off their intra-day peaks of $471.00 and $820.50 respectively. The metals remain comparatively depressed, however. In September 2002 lead was at a nine-year low of $412, while zinc's October 2002 low point of $748 was a trough not seen for well over a decade. biz.yahoo.com