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To: Giraffe who wrote (24464)	12/17/1998 9:45:00 AM
From: Giraffe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116815

Dollar starts U.S. lower as Iraq bombing wears off NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The dollar opened lower as safe-haven support amid U.S. air raids on Iraq wore off and U.S. President Clinton juggles conducting a military action while trying to stave off impeachment, dealers said. ''I'm really disappointed there was no follow through after the bombing, and the dollar just drifted off,'' said Vincent Amaru, foreign exchange vice president at Citibank. ''The range in London was absolutely zero.'' The dollar succumbed to profit taking over 117 yen and 1.6750 marks as the House of Representatives seemed certain to impeach after briefly postponing debate for the Iraq action. The dollar opened at 1.6630/40 marks, down from 1.6760/70 at Monday's close and the 1.6780 overnight high. Dollar/yen was down at 115.87/97, compared to 116.90/00 at the close and a high of 117.15. Also weighing on dollar/yen was growing talk about trade frictions between Japan and the United States. Such worries may have been tempered by U.S. trade data released after the open. But even if so, the dollar took no support from news the October trade deficit fell to $14.19 billion from September's revised $14.37 billion. The smaller gap contrasted with expectations of a rise to $15.1 billion. Dollar/yen sell orders were stacked above 116.50 with stop-loss buy orders behind 117.30, dealers said, adding that longs would probably sell at a loss below 115.25. With many expecting the joint U.S.-UK operation in the Middle East to be over within a relatively few days, the safe haven flows into the dollar were slowing to a trickle almost as soon as the air raid sirens went off over Baghdad. ''If you look all the way back to the Gulf War and Kuwaiti invasion prior to that, you had an initial dollar jerk higher, then people came in and purchased currencies,'' said John Hazelton, a trader at PNC Bank. ''It just follows the pattern.''

To: Giraffe who wrote (24464)	12/17/1998 4:18:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116815

12/17/98 - CLOSING N.Y. METALS COMMENTS: PART 2 <Picture> Magilligan commented that there didn"t appear to be much buying interest in gold due to the missile attack on Iraq, which may have soured interest. "That may have set the stage for when the Swiss story came out," he said. When asked why the missile attacks did not support prices, Magilligan answered: "It doesn"t seem to have much impact any more." He added that this also could have been at least partly due to the fact the action did not include troop movements and there does not appear to be a risk of strong Iraqi opposition or heavy U.S. and British casualties. "Maybe there"s a sense of no confrontation," he said. "It didn"t seem to affect the metals prices." Platinum has been firming lately on the back of the gains in palladium that had been induced by Russian supply worries, Magilligan and floor traders reported. "But it (platinum"s gains) may have been overdone," said Magilligan. "There"s been enough platinum around in the marketplace that it"s not a concern. But when palladium ran up $30 in the last couple of days, it dragged the platinum price up with it. "But with gold prices down and silver down, there was some realization there is enough platinum around and it"s not really tight. Palladium stayed up, but everything else dropped off, kicked off by the Swiss story." January platinum lost $7.20 to $349.50. March palladium, meanwhile, has surged from a settlement of $291.50 on Monday to a contract high of $332 today due to the absence of Russian spot sales lately. A week or two ago, there had been anticipation of such sales ahead of the year-end on thoughts cash-strapped Russia would try to generate cash before export licenses expired. At the same time the sales are dried up, market participants are worried that 1999 will bring a repeat of the Russian supply disruptions that occurred at the beginning of 1998 and 1997. March palladium closed $9 higher at $326.90. (If you have questions or comments about this story, e- mail Allen Sykora at allens@fwn.com.) End