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

To: Lalit Jain who wrote (16737)	8/27/1998 5:34:00 PM
From: Lalit Jain	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

Gold slumps in Europe on Australian miners' sales 06:42 a.m. Aug 27, 1998 Eastern LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Gold continued its downward slide in Europe on Thursday after falling overnight on a flurry of sales from Australian producers cashing in on their weaker currency, dealers said. Gold was last quoted at $280.90/$281.40 an ounce from the previous close in New York at $282.00/$282.50. Bullion fixed at a seven-month low of $280.90 in London in the morning against Wednesday afternoon's fix of $283.15. Dealers said with gold's sentiment already weakened by stepped-up lending of gold by Russia, a heavy bout of producer sales from Australia forced the metal further down. ''The sell-off overnight is pretty predictable given the level of the Australian dollar. That is the main driving force this morning,'' one London dealer said. Australian dealers estimated that about five tonnes of gold was unloaded. Gold in Australian dollar terms was worth around A$500.00 an ounce on Thursday morning -- a near two-year high. The Australian dollar hit a fresh all-time low on Thursday, dropping below the key 56 cent level to $0.5598. ''There is obviously producer selling out of Australia and the Russian situation is continuing to weigh on the market,'' the dealer said. He said the precious metals complex was likely to remain under pressure in the short-term. Dealers said they saw gold weakening further to around $277.00-$278.00 an ounce. Brokers GNI said in a report that the Australian dollar's alarming slide and that of the currencies of other major producers like South Africa and Canada would continue to weigh negatively on the bullion market. ''Whatever the reasons for the Australian fall, the gold market is likely to continue to suffer from related producer hedging,'' the GNI report said. Silver suffered along with gold. It was last quoted at $4.99/$5.02 after dipping to as low as $4.95 in early trade. GNI said unconfirmed rumours were that several former Eastern-block countries were selling silver reserves to raise hard currency. Dealers said silver gained some support from buying out of India where the demand picture looked good in the coming wedding season. But investment funds in New York were sitting on large silver stakes which would be sold into any rally, one dealer said. ''The big element is actually going to be the (New York) funds who are still long in silver,'' he said. Silver stocks on COMEX have been dropping steadily. ''I think silver will be sold into any rallies up to $5.15 simply because the funds have been sitting on silver and getting it wrong,'' the dealer said. Platinum was last quoted lower at $357.00/$359.00 an ounce against the New York close of $360.00/$362.00. Palladium was slightly lower and last quoted at $277.00/$282.00 against the previous $277.40/$282.40 close. infoseek.com

To: Lalit Jain who wrote (16737)	8/27/1998 5:41:00 PM
From: Lalit Jain	Respond to of 116764

21-year Low in CRB Today; Time for Bargain Hunting, or Not? By Jim Wyckoff FWN Executive Editor Chicago-Aug. 27-FWN--BULL MARKETS IN THE COMMODITIES arena this year have been few and far between, and today's 21-year low in the Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index adds an exclamation point to that notion. The plunge in the CRB--one of the most popular barometers of general commodities price performance and overall inflation--begs the question: Is the time getting ripe to pick a bottom in some commodities? "There are already people trying to pick a bottom," said William O'Neill, senior futures strategist at Merrill Lynch in New York. But "I don't think the bottom is in yet. I think we're getting a little overdone (on the downside) short-term, and we may be in for a snap back, if we get a little stability in the stock market," he said. Economic downturns in Asia that have dampened demand, along with generally good growing weather for most crops worldwide that has bolstered supplies, have combined to put downward pressure on most commodities prices this year. Besides fundamentals that are bearish for commodities, O'Neill said there is a very bearish trader psychology, at present, regarding most commodities. The recent Russian crisis has accelerated "a pattern that has been in place here and got started with the Asian situation back in the fourth quarter of last year," said O'Neill. "It's a continuation of the demand-related losses and concerns being exaggerated," he said. Russia has just "added another burden to the markets." Said Glen Ring, technical analyst and editor of the "View on Futures" technical newsletter, based in Cedar Falls, Iowa: "I have turns due any time now in the CRB Index. I have been waiting for a climaxing washout to set it up. I am not yet ready to assume we're at a low." Ring said today's 21-year low in the CRB (at 195.38) should "turn the world bearish on commodities...if the world isn't already bearish." "We may be involved in a bit of a panic, if the Dow Jones Industrial Average does not recover," he added. "The next six months will probably see our best buying opportunities that the commodities markets will see for many years to come," said Ring.