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

To: 4figureau who wrote (3472)	2/27/2003 9:28:07 AM
From: 4figureau	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5423

Gold Cautiously Firmer, Volatility Seen Feb. 27 — LONDON (Reuters) - Gold moved quietly higher on Thursday in Europe, with weak equities and buoyant oil prices aiding sentiment, while analysts predicted further volatile trading and a possible move higher before the weekend. "Gold's moves over the last couple of days confirm our view that the metal will remain extremely volatile over coming months," John Reade of UBS Warburg said in a report. "War, although possibly not imminent, continues to encourage speculators to play gold from the long side....In the near term, we continue to expect gold to trade higher on worsening geopolitical tension." Spot gold <XAU=> was trading at $353.90/354.70 an ounce by 5:56 a.m. EST, up from New York's close on Wednesday at $353.50/4.25. Gold was expected to see choppy trading ahead of the weekend as it reacts to news headlines, such as on Wednesday afternoon when rumors of a suspected car bomb in the United States saw the market jump $3. Upward pressure is also coming from the oil market, where crude oil prices <OILOIL> are at their highest level in more than 12 years. U.S. light crude hit $38.66 a barrel in electronic trade on Thursday, the highest oil price since the 1990-91 Gulf crisis when crude peaked at over $41 shortly after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Stocks fell early in the day, although the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> benchmark index eventually scraped back into positive ground. However, it has lost 3.6 percent this week as confidence has been shaken by mounting prospects of war in Iraq and economic gloom. "With the Iraq stand-off approaching end-game, and North Korea raising the political stakes in South East Asia by re-activating a nuclear plant, gold can be expected to test resistance located at $358 ahead of the weekend," Standard Bank London said in a report. A divided U.N. Security Council is to hold informal talks on Thursday on a resolution authorizing force against Iraq, with veto-wielding China and Russia saying inspectors should be given more time. The new resolution, sponsored by Britain, the United States and Spain, lays the groundwork for war by declaring Iraq has failed to meet U.S. disarmament demands spelt out in Resolution 1441, which the council passed unanimously on November 8. In other precious metals, spot silver <XAG=> stepped back a little and was indicated at $4.64/4.66 an ounce versus New York's previous $4.65/4.67. Platinum <XPT=> crept up to $679.00/684.00 an ounce compared with $678.50/683.50, while palladium <XPD=> dropped to $240.00/245.00 compared with New York's previous $247.00/252.00. abcnews.go.com