Commodities - September 22, 2006
September 22, 2006
Metals
London - Gold steadied yesterday after falling overnight as dollar weakness and a rise in oil prices encouraged investors and bargain hunters to buy on price dips. Dealers noted demand from jewellers, but trading losses at a hedge fund raised fears of more fund selling.
Gold hit an intraday low of $574.25 before touching $581.50. It was fixed at $578.75 an ounce (R140 723 a kilogram) in London yesterday afternoon, $1.50 lower than Wednesday's second fix.
In other metals, platinum dropped $3 to $1 132, palladium was unchanged at $308 and silver fell 28c to $11.02 an ounce. - Reuters
Oil
London - Oil prices rose yesterday after hitting six-month lows the previous session, but big US fuel stocks and hopes that talks with Iran could avert a crisis over its nuclear programme limited gains.
London Brent crude was up 46c at $60.93 a barrel (R2.90 a litre), while US light crude was 52c higher at $61.26 a barrel.
Technical analysts said a break below $60 could lead to the $55 region, although resistance at about $58 to $60 could halt the slide.
An easing in the crisis over Iran's uranium enrichment programme also put downward pressure on oil prices. - Reuters
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