Gold is up $4.55 at 11:05 A.M.Is something happening? Andy? What is your take on this?

-- Lumber Jack (johnsellis@webtv.net), September 21, 1999

Answers

No way! That's a big jump! Glad I got my confirmation yesterday.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), September 21, 1999.

Well this is certianly wierd

 Infoseek: News

FOCUS-Gold hits one-month high after UK sale rush
11:56 a.m. Sep 21, 1999 Eastern

By Patrick Chalmers

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Gold surged nearly $5.00 an ounce to one-month highs as unexpectedly strong demand greeted Britain's controversial auction of a second chunk of its gold reserves.

North American and South African gold shares recovered from recent falls to be several percent up on the result, though some miners remained critical of Britain's plan to switch over half its gold into dollars, euros and yen to rejig its portfolio.

The gold fetched $255.75 a troy ounce at auction, down on the $261.20 received at the first sale in July but above recent market levels as bids exceeded the 25 tonnes on offer eightfold.

The auction, part of UK plans to cut gold reserves by 415 tonnes in the coming years, netted $206 million.

``I think there was a lot more client interest in the auction than we thought. It's another game, another wrinkle in the marketplace for people to play with,'' one London dealer said.

Gold rose immediately after the auction, then again when New York opened, breaking resistance levels at $256.50, $258.00 and $260.00 before settling back.

``The market was definitely short going into the auction and was caught napping,'' the dealer added.

The level of bids and the price both surprised dealers, who had predicted a sale price of around $255 or just below.

AUCTION UNEARTHS GENUINE DEMAND

Mitsui Global Precious Metals Analyst Andy Smith said signs were that more genuine buying interest emerged for Tuesday's auction, in contrast to July.

``Last time suspicions were quickly aroused of a 'spoof' -- many less-than-genuine bids way below the line,'' Smith said.

``This time, professionals appear to take more seriously a large proportion of the 175 tonnes of unsuccessful bids,'' he said in a market commentary.

Spot gold was last at $259.40/$259.90 a troy ounce, $4.65 up on New York's Monday close having fixed in London at $258.85 in the London afternoon.

Gold has yet to recover from the slide seen after Britain's first sale, when prices dropped to a series of 20-year lows that reached a floor of $251.70 on August 25.

Britain suffered severe criticism from producers, producing countries and opposition politicians when it unveiled the auction proposal in May, a move which knocked prices down more than 10 percent from near $290.00.

South Africa, the world's biggest gold producer and also one of the higher cost ones, has been strong in its objections.

Although gold no longer holds a central place in the country's economy, it is still the biggest foreign exchange earner, a large employer and a driver of sentiment on the bourse, where the bulk of gold shares are held offshore.

But opponents did not just sit by and watch the auction. South African gold producer Gold Fields Ltd (GFIJ.J) said it bought 12.5 percent of the gold for sale, while fellow producer Anglogold (ANGJ.J) said it had unsuccessfully bid for some of the gold.

LONG-TERM DOWNTREND

Mud-slinging about Britain's sales plans has clouded the bigger picture, which has shown a steady decline in gold prices since their 1980 peak at $850.

Increased mine supply, forward selling by miners and speculators and the real and imagined threat of central bank reserve sales have all tarnished gold's allure.

After July's UK sale, the International Monetary Fund scrapped controversial plans to sell some of its gold reserves to pay for a programme of debt relief for poor countries.

Instead, it is opting for an off-market operation based on revalued reserves, taking advantage of the gap between the price at which the IMF values the metal and its market prices.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), September 21, 1999.