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To: 4figureau who wrote (4185)	4/23/2003 10:15:01 AM
From: 4figureau	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5423

Gold gets ready to run By: Stewart Bailey Posted: 2003/04/22 Tue 14:00 EDT \| © Mineweb 1997-2003 JOHANNESBURG – Gold bears have undergone a Damascene conversion to raging bulls in a few short days as the metal burst through three successive resistance levels at the weekend. Less than ebullient about the metal's short term prospects only a week ago, after more than a month of somnambulant trading, Johannesburg and London-based bullion bankers are now touting a gold price of $340/oz within a fortnight and $350/oz inside of a month. Bullion spiked $6 at the weekend on thin trade as most of the world’s major markets were closed for the Easter Weekend. The initial run was triggered by renewed tension in the Korean peninsula over North Korea’s insistence of continuing development of a weapons programme in defiance of US calls to cease and desist. Dollar weakness added impetus to the rally. In Japan and New York, which both traded Monday, fund buying pushed the metal above a key technical level of $330/oz, triggering stop-loss buying which pushed the metal to current levels of around $333/oz. Press reports also described a flurry of “furious Asian fund activity”, as skittish Japanese investors seeking gold’s safe haven status, pushed Tokyo’s gold futures to their highest level in more than a month. “A lot of funds really climbed in at $330/oz which pushed it up. What was quite interesting is that when it briefly went back down to $330/oz, they came back in and bought more,” said one senior bullion trader at a Johannesburg bank. The dealer said the bank, one of South Africa’s big four, had pegged a price target of $350/oz over the next month. Analysts expect the net long position on Comex of 2.57 million ounces to have ticked up appreciably when the latest numbers are reported at the end of the week. The Comex speculators’ position is the bellwether of investor sentiment toward bullion and has recovered from its nadir of close to 2.4 million ounces in February. It is, however, still a long way – somewhere between 55 percent and 65 percent - off its peak of more than six million ounces last year. “It could still go up a long way,” said one analyst, raising the prospect of more buying interest in coming weeks. Standard Bank London said in a report the breach of the key $330/oz level had broken gold’s 200-day moving average. “Another day of strength should see the short-term indicators turn bullish and chart watchers should be looking for a test of resistance at $335/oz, with the 100-day moving average pegged at $344.50/oz moving onto the fund’s radar screens,” the report said. Investec Bank said in a report filed by its London Bullion desk: “With the US dollar remaining overall weak and stocks a little directionless in the post war environment gold feels like it could move further to upside in the next few weeks even trying $340/oz and beyond.” The latest wave of fund interest in gold’s alternative investment properties was triggered by news reports at the weekend out of Pyong Yang - North Korea’s capital - that the country was forging ahead with the conversion of spent nuclear-fuel rods to weapons grade plutonium. North Korea’s state controlled press added fuel to the fire with a general alert issued to its citizens, warning them to be “combat ready” in case of an attack. Talks between the US and North Koreans kick of tomorrow in Beijing, but Senior diplomatic sources quoted by Bloomberg News said the likelihood of an immediate resolution to the impasse was nil. The ongoing regional tension and weak macroeconomic fundamentals in the US underpinning a frail dollar are both expected to support the gold price for the immediate future. “The US looks like it is walking out of one hotspot to another. That’s just another issue to add to the worry list for the dollar, which is under a lot of pressure at the moment. All of these peripheral issues are going to go away sooner or later and when they do the focus is going to be squarely on the fundamentals, which show the US is sick,” said the bullion banker. “All of that is good news for gold,” he said. m1.mny.co.za

To: 4figureau who wrote (4185)	4/23/2003 1:26:05 PM
From: IngotWeTrust	Respond to of 5423

Around the circuit...The Indian Press is reporting that ICICI Bank, which suffered a short-term loss of confidence in the early part of last week, asked for cash payments against its regular gold sales rather than drafts or cheques in order to tide it over. The bullion was sold locally to bullion traders and jewellers at a time of extremely strong demand (height of the Indian wedding season) and did not disrupt the market. The bank is reported to be a regular seller of 500-600kg of gold daily; this level was apparently doubled on April 16th following three days of national holidays and the metal was delivered immediately against cash, rather than waiting for cheques or drafts to clear. The amount sold was approximately Rs 60 crore, (or approximately US$13M, equivalent to approximately 1.2 tonnes at today's rates) as compared with the Rs 2,000 crore facility that the bank is said to have arranged with the Reserve Bank of India. Thanks World Gold Council, "report" Rhona Connell dateline: London 4/23/02