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

To: lorne who wrote (31606)	4/12/1999 4:32:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116791

''The PGMs are the most vulnerable to supply disruption from a conflict (with) Russia and extreme care should be taken on the short side,'' Standard Bank said. " Gold firmer in Europe, watching Balkans conflict 06:41 a.m. Apr 12, 1999 Eastern LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose further in early European business on Monday, boosted by overnight short covering out of Asia. Dealers expected bullion to continue higher while the market watched developments in the Kosovo conflict. Gold was last quoted at $282.90 /$283.30 a troy ounce, up from Friday's close in New York at $280.80/$281.30. It fixed in London on Monday morning at $282.70 against the previous $280.80/$281.30 London fix. Traders said gold was unable to hold the $282.00 level towards Friday's New York close but the later release of CFTC Commitment of Traders Report figures, which showed a huge net short position of around 9.16 million ounces, boosted the price. ''Overnight in Tokyo, the market has gone through $282.00, with the release of the CFTC figures showing that the gold market on COMEX is seriously short,'' one dealer said. Dealers and analysts said some of the COMEX short positions might already have been covered but they expected further short covering to push the gold price higher. ''We expect higher towards $285.00, but we're wary that the rest of the market will be thinking the same, and also that there should be some decent selling above,'' a dealer said. Dealers expected selling to emerge around $284.00 towards the $285.00 area. Analysts expected the bullion market to continue to monitor developments over NATO air strikes in Kosovo and Yugoslavia. Gold blipped higher late last week after Russia's warning to NATO not to draw it into the conflict. ''The (COMEX) short position, in tandem with possible further dramatic Russian statements should provide some short-term upside for gold,'' Maquarie Equities Ltd precious metals analyst Kamal Naqvi said. Silver was last quoted just higher at $4.96/$4.98, up from Friday's New York close at $4.94/$4.96. Dealers said silver looked positive on the charts and a break through $5.00 could see it head even higher. ''A close above $4.96 will now signal a directional change in momentum while a move through $5.00 would confirm a break to the upside,'' leading metals traders Standard Bank London said in a report. Standard Bank said the platinum group metals were vulnerable to supply disruptions from major supplier Russia, and platinum and palladium would be vulnerable to any heightened tensions between Russia and NATO over Kosovo. ''The PGMs are the most vulnerable to supply disruption from a conflict (with) Russia and extreme care should be taken on the short side,'' Standard Bank said. Platinum was last quoted at $362.00/$367.00 an ounce from Friday's New York close at $358.20/$360.20. Palladium was just lower at $359.00/$361.00 against $361.75/$366.75. ((Marius Bosch, London newsroom +44 171 542 8065, fax +44 171 542 8077. london.commodities.desk+reuters.com)) Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited