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

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15210)	8/3/1998 1:04:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116762

Thanks for that info Bobby, as I don't get cnbc. (eom)

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15210)	8/3/1998 3:49:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116762

Russia to issue gold-backed paper soon-banker 12:39 p.m. Aug 03, 1998 Eastern MOSCOW, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Russia plans to issue gold-backed government securities soon worth a maximum total of 50 tonnes of gold, a banker who participated in working out the programme said on Monday. UNEXIMBank deputy chiarman Yevgeny Ivanov told Reuters that Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko signed main terms for circulation of the securities. Now the Finance Ministry is to issue a more detailed plan, he said. The government will sell the paper, called ''gold certificates,'' among gold miners who are to pay for them in kind. The miners will be obliged to sell the securities on the secondary market. The government will hold auctions where miners can sell their certificates at the Moscow International Stock Exchange, the only exchange with a licence for operations with gold. Ivanov added that first auctions would take place in September. ''Of course, not all 50 tonnes will be placed at once, there will be three or five auctions,'' Ivanov said. ''It is clear that a $500 million issue in September, when the liquidity of the Russian baking system is quite low, is interesting to attract non-residents.'' Under the programme, foreigners have the right to buy the certificates. But since none of them have licences for operations with gold, they can only do that on the secondary market, or through a Russian bank-agent. Russian banks can also act as agents to export gold for foreign clients, Ivanov said. He said the securities would have maturities coinciding with the schedule of gold mining with tranches maturing in August, September, October and November 1999. ((Alexander Yershov, Moscow Newsroom, +7095 941-8520 moscow.newsroom+reuters.com)) Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15210)	8/3/1998 3:54:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116762

Euro heating oil slumps as exports sag,stocks grow 09:31 a.m. Aug 03, 1998 Eastern By Duncan Shiels LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - European heating oil prices hit a 10-year low on Monday as brimming stocks and weak Asian demand for Europe's excess supply took their toll. August futures prices for gas oil on London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) touched $110 a tonne, the lowest price since October 1988. The new slide beats a recent low in March when IPE Brent crude also touched rock bottom but now gas oil is relatively much weaker than crude. ''You've got so much gas oil around that until the gas oil disappears the prices are not going to rise fundamentally,'' said one trader. The slump in heating oil prices is bad news for oil producers who, by cutting output this year, were hoping to push prices higher as the market prepares for northern hemisphere winter. Analysts said the recession which has lain Asia low since last autumn has been a major factor in the southerly dive in European gas oil prices. ''A year or two ago you saw a lot of gas oil heading out of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and Ventspils right to the Far East in enormous quantities 80,000 tonnes at a time but you don't see that anymore,'' said Konrad Gerber of Petro-Logistics in Switzerland. ''You've got lack of demand in the East and it's being offloaded into Europe, which has got too much.'' Stocks started rising early this year when the El Nino weather phenomenon produced a mild winter. European Union middle distillate (heating oil and diesel) stocks at the end of June stood at 318 million barrels, 10 percent up on the year. European refiners said on Friday they were actively considering cuts in crude runs to combat sinking profit margins. But cuts are late in coming after a period in which refiners have pumped out products for storage, taking advantage of low crude prices and hefty discounts for prompt gas oil, known in the market as contango. ''High contangoes and cheap crude have combined to produce a race among refiners to produce as much as possible before margins rise,'' said David Fyfe of Energy Market Consultants. Current month-to-month IPE margins range between $3.50 to $4.75 a tonne up to January 1999 enough to pay for storage costs. But Gerber says only refinery run cuts in Russia can reduce the glut and there is little sign of that happening. ''The gas oil (output) is surprisingly high from Russia,'' he said. ''Normally at this time of year one tends to see a dip because August is the harvest time and they need a lot of gas oil for the agricultural and transport sectors, but we haven't seen it yet.'' Early figures suggest the June level of Russian heating oil exports of 450,000 barrels a day was maintained in July. All this points to further price falls before winter demand picks up with traders praying that last year's mild weather will not be repeated. ''There's no doubt that to completely clear the surplus from the levels that are around at the moment in Europe it would take a very substantial cold snap,'' said Fyfe. ''If one accepts that crude could be rebounding modestly in the second half of this year, we don't expect prices to move contra-seasonally. ''But we would expect price ratios to slip well into the bottom half of the normal range versus crude unless we get a very substantial pick-up in demand in the fourth quarter.'' Meteorologists are already predicting a La Nina weather pattern this year bringing colder than normal weather. In the short-term, traders see the next support level for gas oil at $107.75. ''We don't think it will drop below that in the near future but if it does we think it'll fall quite a lot further,'' said a Scandinavian dealer. A trader in Germany, where end-June consumer heating oil stocks were already at almost 62 percent, was more sanguine. ''We once saw $85 (per tonne) in the early eighties,'' she said. ''Why shouldn't it happen again?.'' ((London newsroom, 44 171 542 8185, fax 44 171 542 4453, london.energy.desk+reuters.com)) Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15210)	8/3/1998 3:55:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116762

FOCUS-Oil market shrugs off new output cut talk 06:29 a.m. Aug 03, 1998 Eastern LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices barely budged on Monday despite fresh indications that Gulf oil producers are willing to lead a third round of output cuts by as early as September if crude values don't perk up. London September futures for benchmark Brent blend traded down 11 cents at $13.98 a barrel in early business. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah on Saturday said Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries members might need to cut another million barrels a day when they meet in November if Brent failed to reach his favoured target of $17 a barrel. A Gulf source familiar with Saudi thinking responded by saying that, if warranted, the kingdom would support a further round of reductions as long as it saw strict compliance with this year's previous agreements. The source said a further withdrawal of supplies aimed at rebalancing the market could be arranged as early as September. Oil dealers were not impressed. ''Talk of cuts is all well and good but the fundamentals tell you otherwise,'' said a trader on the London futures exchange. Oil prices are still suffering the consequences of the highest stocks on record resulting from the combination of a sharp downturn in demand growth and too much supply in the first half of the year. OPEC reductions have partly been offset by rising Iraqi exports while forecasts for Asian demand have been marked successively lower. Saudi Arabia and fellow producers Venezuela and non-OPEC Mexico have already orchestrated two rounds of supply reductions this year after oil prices hit 10-year lows in March. But officials from the two Latin American countries at the weekend poured cold water on the prospects for more cuts. Mexican Energy Minister Luis Tellez at a conference in Venezuela on Saturday said such talk was ''totally premature.'' Luis Guisti, the head of Venezuela's state oil company, said on Saturday as far as he was concerned his country had made enough cuts already. OPEC in June agreed to extend production cuts to 2.6 million barrels daily from July 1, and analysts say they won't be able to assess OPEC compliance with the agreement until early September. Oil markets on Monday went unruffled by the latest visit to hospital by Saudi monarch King Fahd. Saudi sources said the ageing king was undergoing routine medical tests. Prices in dollars per barrel: Aug 3 July 31 1020 GMT (close) IPE September Brent 12.98 13.10 NYMEX September light crude 14.15 14.21 Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15210)	8/3/1998 4:23:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116762

U.S. Stocks Fall on Concern That Asia's Slump Will Damage U.S. Profits U.S. Stocks Fall on Concern Over Slowing Earnings Growth New York, Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, led by oil shares, on concern that Asia's economic woes will cut into U.S. corporate profit growth. ''The market's overvalued,'' said Timothy Ghriskey, who manages $4 billion for Dreyfus Corp. in New York. ''Asia's still a problem. That's a major export economy for the U.S., and the demand in Asia simply isn't there and won't come back right away.'' The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 77.50, or 0.9 percent, to 8805.79 in late trading, led by Procter & Gamble Co. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 7.52, or 0.7 percent, to 1113.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 19.32, or 1 percent, to 1853.07. Statistical measures show the market is weaker than the major indexes would indicate. More than two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, and 720 stocks reached 52-week lows on U.S. exchanges, dwarfing the 67 issues at 52-week highs. While Asia's impact on earnings preoccupied investors, some of the biggest individual stock moves came as a result of merger news. Procter & Gamble fell 3 7/16 to 75 15/16. The world's second- largest consumer products company has declined for five straight sessions on concern that further deterioration of sales in Asia could offset gains in healthier regions. Eastman Kodak Co. lost 2 1/2 to 81 3/8 after the company said it would buy most of Imation Corp.'s medical imaging business for $520 million, and the purchase won't help earnings for a year after the transaction closes. Imation rose 1 9/16 to 17 3/8. Two companies whose mergers were blocked on antitrust concerns plunged. Bergen Brunswig Corp. dropped 8 1/2 to 44 1/2 and AmeriSource Health Corp. tumbled 20 1/8 to 56 amid concern about their prospects for growth after a judge blocked their acquisitions by two of the country's largest drug wholesalers. Cardinal Health Inc. planned to buy Bergen Brunswig and McKesson Corp. had agreed to acquire AmeriSource. The government said the transactions would probably reduce competition in the $94 billion-a-year U.S. pharmaceutical distribution industry. Cardinal Health dropped 15/16 to 95 1/8. McKesson rose 2 7/16 to 83 1/16. Supermarket Merger American Stores Co. rose 5 5/16 to 28 1/2, and was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, after Albertson's Inc. agreed to buy the company, the third-largest supermarket in the U.S., for $11.7 billion in stock and debt. Albertson's will pay $30.24 a share for American in a purchase that will create the largest U.S. chain of supermarkets and drugstores. American operates Lucy, Jewel and Acme supermarkets. Albertson's rose 1/2 to 48 1/2. Stratus Computer Inc. gained 5 1/16 to 33 15/16 after agreeing to be acquired by Ascend Communications Inc. for $822 million in stock, or $33.35 a share, a 15 percent premium to Friday's close. Ascend rose 2 7/32 to 46 11/16. Stratus rose 28 percent last week on speculation it was a takeover target. Ascend sells computer switches used by phone companies to combine voice and data communications. Stratus makes computers that run nonstop for banks and phone companies. Asia's Slump Stocks in Asia slumped as the yen's slide against the dollar heightened concern that Japan's economic ills are spreading. In Europe, weaker-than-expected earnings from HSBC Holdings Plc, the largest U.K. bank by assets, showed that Asia's woes are hurting corporate profits. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dropped 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index sank 4.8 percent. Many investors say U.S. stocks are too expensive, given that Asia's problems are a drag on the U.S. economy and corporate profit growth. ''Earnings are slowing down,'' and Japan's economy isn't improving, said Kenneth Ducey, chief trader at BT Brokerage, a unit of Bankers Trust Corp. Those are bad signs for shares near record highs. Exxon Corp. dropped 1 1/2 to 68 3/4 and Chevron Corp. lost 1 3/4 to 80 7/8 as oil shares led the S&P lower, moving in tandem with the price of crude oil. Crude fell more than 3 percent amid skepticism that output cuts by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will reduce a worldwide oversupply. The Internet is one industry where investors still expect strong profit growth, as evidenced by the gain in an Internet- related company that reports earnings tomorrow. Cisco Systems Inc., the No. 1 maker of equipment that links computers, gained 1 3/4 to 97 1/2. Movers General Motors Corp. fell 1 1/16 to 71 1/4 after saying it will turn its Delphi Automotive Systems unit, the world's largest auto-parts maker, into an independent company through a stock sale and distribution to shareholders worth as much as $13 billion. The world's biggest automaker said it will sell a 15 percent to 20 percent stake in Delphi with an initial public offering of stock in the first quarter. The stock rose almost 5 percent last Monday and Tuesday in anticipation of the announcement. CellStar Corp. fell 2 to 12 after the seller of wireless communications products said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating it for previously disclosed events that occurred in 1995 and 1996. The stock dropped as low as 9 3/8. In earlier filings with the SEC, the company disclosed the filing of class-action lawsuits alleging that CellStar shares were artificially inflated when the company misrepresented or failed to disclose information to investors. Nielsen Media Research Inc. plunged 1/2, or 12 percent, to 3 5/8. The four largest broadcast networks and many large advertising agencies are backing a new television-ratings service to rival Nielsen. The networks say viewership isn't being assessed accurately, the Wall Street Journal reported. SFS Bancorp Inc. rose 7 to 27 after Cohoes Savings Bank said it will acquire the company, the parent of Schenectady Federal Savings Bank. The purchase price per share will be determined by the initial public offering price of new Cohoes holding company common stock. For the third time today, the NYSE imposed its ''uptick'' rule at 3:28 p.m. Eastern time when the Dow fell 50 points. The rule is lifted when the Dow pares its loss to less than 25 points.