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

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (30330)	3/19/1999 11:45:00 AM
From: George Castilarin	Respond to of 117019

Physical demand supports gold in Europe LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Gold traded in a range in early European business on Friday, with possible IMF gold sales still hanging over the market but offset slightly by good physical demand, dealers said. Gold was last quoted at $283.50/$284.00 a troy ounce against Thursday's New York close at $283.00/$283.50. It traded in a 75 cent range during most of the morning. Dealers said gold recovered after weakening in early trade on news that IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus welcomed U.S. support for sales of some IMF bullion reserves. The gold price dropped below $283.00 but firmed to present levels in later trade. Camdessus did not give a timetable for sales but said more would be needed to relieve poor countries' debt. ''We shall support the sale of the gold of the IMF in spite of the opposition of a big part of the membership of IMF because I see the reduction of heavily indebted poor countries as one of the great things to be done,'' he said. Dealers said his comments indicated the IMF will sell despite political opposition from some members. But many said the IMF sales had been factored into the bullion price since French President Jacques Chirac set the ball rolling on Monday, followed by U.S. President Bill Clinton saying later in the week the U.S. would support IMF sales. ''Hopefully, what will happen is that the impact on the price, with all the speculation and comment, will not be larger than the actual announcement itself - we will probably see the gold price rally when that happens,'' one London analyst said. U.S. treasury secretary James Rubin said on Wednesday IMF sales would be between 5 and 10 million ounces and will not disturb the market. Traders said gold was supported by physical demand at the $282.50 level. Another London analyst said Camdessus' remarks were not new. ''It seems much more likely that we are going to see IMF gold sales taking place, the question is when are they going to get around the table and talk about it,'' the analyst said. Dealers said gold is likely to remain quiet in its range until New York trading opens. ''It is Friday again and gold now looks very weak. As we know, quite often it has been Friday afternoon when things become very interesting,'' one dealer said. Silver was last quoted higher at $5.02/$5.05 a troy ounce, just up from the New York close at $5.01/$5.03. Traders said silver was straddling the important $5.00 support level but said if it dropped below $5.00 it could head to the $4.83 level in technical trade on a quiet market. Platinum and palladium were moving independently of gold and silver, holding steady in quiet conditions. Platinum was last quoted at $367.50/$369.50 an ounce, just down from the New York close at $367.75/$369.75. Palladium was a dollar lower at $348.00/$353.00.