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Gold/Mining/Energy : Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ptaskmaster who wrote (63)	4/21/1999 2:54:00 PM
From: Just G	Respond to of 529

Thanks

To: Ptaskmaster who wrote (63)	4/30/1999 4:52:00 PM
From: Paul Berliner	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 529

bridge.com bridge.com@PA.1%5B1099d%5D/fc/hc B] NY Precious Metals Review:Jun palladium dn 9.7% after 5-mo low Updated Fri Apr 30, 1999 20:45 GMT By Melanie Lovatt, Bridge News New York--Apr 30--NYMEX Jun palladium futures settled down a huge $32.90, 9.7%, at $308 per ounce after plunging to a 5-month low of $296 early in thesession. NY palladium plummeted shortly after the session opened on large volumeselling on the London PM fix, said traders. They noted that sales had beenspurred by news of material arriving from Russia. After the blood-letting,palladium stayed near its lows, moving sideways for the rest of the session. * * * Traders said that a Swiss bank was the main seller on the London PM fix,suggesting that sales were around 150,000 ounces. Some traders said that the PM fix sales were largely speculative amidreports this week that large volumes of material have been imported from Russia.Russia's Norilsk Nickel is the world's largest palladium producer. However, others are suggesting that the Swiss sales were Russian materialthat was being held as collateral against loans. Either way, when the sellingstarted, others "piled in," said one trader. Palladium was fixed at $295 per ounce at the London PM, down from the $350seen at the AM fix. One trader noted that it had stabilized at today's lows asbargain hunting trickled into the market. One of the main buyers was said to bea large NY trade house. Palladium prices have been in a slide this week after material startedarriving from Russia, said traders. US traders have reported that palladiumsponge has started to arrive here in large quantities. An official at Norilsk Nickel told Bridge Wednesday that the company isstarting its first shipments of the metal to traditional end-user buyers under anew 10-year quota system. Due to massive regular supplies coming in the nearfuture, we believe prices will go down," he said. A government official told Bridge News last month that the 10-year quotameant Almaz could sell metal continuously, depending on the market situation andnot the vagaries of officialdom. An official with Almaz, through which all palladium exports are made,confirmed that Norilsk and the CBR recently received their annual export quotasbut declined to confirm whether shipments had been already made. He did say shipments originating from the State Depository for PreciousMetals (Gokhran) were made earlier this year. Some players continue to suggestthat Russia was trying to beat the new 5% export duty on precious metals, whichwill go into effect May 1. "There's an incentive to sell metal ahead of thedeadline," said one trader. Traders warned that caution is needed in the wake of recent price moves andone suggested that palladium was "like a rubber band" and that prices couldeasily repeat last year's pattern, where they fell back as Russia started toexport, but then rebounded after being overdone on the downside. However anothertrade noted that after today's volatile selloff it is "anyone's guess what isgoing to happen." Meanwhile, as palladium was bathed in a sea of red, platinum, gold andsilver all managed to end the day in positive territory. Some had expected profit-taking today after a sudden rally late inThursday's session had carried silver and gold sharply higher. However, the bigjump in the US gross domestic product, reported this morning, was supportive forthese metals, said traders. Although some economic analysts suggest that today's GDP figures show thecombination of vigorous growth and low inflation will persist, some marketplayers said that the figures "hint" at inflation. The US first quarter GDP was up 4.5%, exceeding expectations of 3.4% growthdue to very strong consumer spending. If gold manages to climb above the 40-day moving average at $290 "it couldbe very bullish" said one trader, although pointed out that it will encounterstrong resistance as it tries to reach this level. Jun gold settled up 50c at $287.80 per ounce today after edging up to $289per ounce, its highest level in 6 weeks. Jly silver settled up 1.7c at $5.43 perounce after jumping to a 2-month high of $5.485. Wednesday's option expiryallowed spot silver to rise above $5.25, where calls had been capping the spotprice as grantors protected their exposure and tried to prevent options beingexercised. In addition to this, silver is now receiving strength from itsmuch-improved technical picture. Traders noted that Jly silver open interest climbed Thursday, when pricesjumped, indicating that new longs were entering the market. Many are expecting a slow start next week in precious metals with Londontraders absent Monday due to a UK bank holiday and Japan traders out during theGolden Week holidays. TOCOM is set to resume trading May 6. --Jun gold (GCM9) at $287.8, up 50c; RANGE: $289-286.8 --Jly silver (SIN9) at $5.43, up 1.7c; RANGE: $5.485-5.36 --Jly platinum (PLN9) at $354.5, up $3.8; RANGE: $356-349 --Jun palladium (PAM9) at $308.0, dn $32.9; RANGE: $336.0-296.0SPOT PRECIOUS METALS PRICES: Late New York London TokyoGold (KRCGL) 285.60-286.10 286.20-286.60 285.80-286.30Silver (KRCSL) 5.37-5.40 5.42-5.46 5.35-5.38Patinum (KRCPL) 352.00-354.00 350.00-352.00 349.50-351.50Palladium(KRCPA) 306.00-311.00 329.00-334.00 333.00-338.00