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To: Jan Crawley who wrote (14947)	8/28/1998 8:09:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

*****OT***** LONDON GOLD HITS NEW 19-YEAR LOW; COPPER TRADES QUIETLY Futures World News - August 28, 1998 07:06 %$1 %$NF11MT %METAL %COMMENTS V%FWN P%FWN London-Aug. 28-FWN--GOLD AND OTHER PRECIOUS METALS CAME under selling pressure this morning, and prices of base metals were also generally down in early trade at the London Metal Exchange (LME). This morning's gold fix of $273.40 an ounce, compared with $278.50 on Thursday afternoon, was a new 19-year low, dealers reported. "We've seen some stale bull and technical selling," said Merrill Lynch metals analyst Ted Arnold, adding that the trigger for the yellow metal's decline this week had been Australian producer selling. Dealers said falling currencies of some of the big gold producing countries--in particular Australia--had prompted a rush to sell in the last few days. They also noted reports of heavy Russian lending of gold, adding that it is not enjoying its usual attraction as a last refuge at time of political and currency upheavals. "Gold's role as a safe haven is long gone," commented Arnold. Platinum and palladium were also marked lower this morning, with the lack of support attributed by dealers to market talk that Russia's economic crisis will spark increased sales of both. Russia is the world's biggest supplier of palladium, accounting for about two-thirds of the total, while it is second only to South Africa as an exporter of platinum, according to Johnson Matthey's latest report on both metals. In latest dealings here, platinum was indicated at $349 an ounce, a loss of $20 on last night's close, while palladium was $15 lower at $273. In LME trading, meanwhile, prices were generally easier this morning, partly reflecting the overnight downturn in the yen and other Far Eastern currencies, traders said. They reported that conditions for copper remained quiet, however, with the market holding within its recent range marked by good technical support in the $1,600-$1,620 region. "There's not a lot of activity in copper as everyone focuses on whether there's going to be a world meltdown," said Arnold. In latest business, three-month metal--which has so far traded between $1,618.50 and $1,636.00--was indicated at $1,635.50 per metric ton, up $5 on last night's close. Dealers said that there was no fresh fundamental news for copper, apart from the further rise reported this morning in exchange stocks of the metal. These are now back above 300,000 tons for the first time since April 17. Today's rise of 3,400 tons lifted total copper inventories to 303,200, bringing the increase reported this week to 17,700. In its latest daily metals report, meanwhile, broker Rudolf Wolff puts upside resistance in copper at $1,680 and $1,700, with support pegged at $1,625 to $1,630 and then $1,600 to $1,610.