COMEX gold prices plunge, silver, platinum palladium follow

New York (Platts)--23Oct2006

Gold has led the precious metals complex on a significant downslide on
the New York exchanges Monday morning, leaving most traders puzzled as to
whether these markets are in an uptrend or downtrend. Gold and silver both
made strong gains last week, with gold bouncing above the $600/oz level and
silver rising above $12/oz. But this upswing lasted only two days and prices
are down again.

The COMEX nearby December gold futures contract fell $9.40 to $587/oz at
10:20 am EDT and December silver plunged 23.5 cents to $11.73/oz. On the
NYMEX, the January 2007 platinum futures contract fell $8.10 to $1,074/oz when
it last traded at 10:10 am and the December palladium contract declined by
$9.50 to reach $321/oz.

"I am not sure where things are headed," said one trader. "All I can say
is that gold is continuing to follow oil and the dollar. There is no logic to
these markets."

Open interest in the December gold contract has declined sharply,
indicating that there has been a significant number of contracts liquidated in
recent days.

The dollar has made a sharp rebound against the Japanese Yen, trading at
yen 119.33 at 10:23 am. The greenback is also holding firm against the euro,
trading at $1.2550/euro.

--Ovid Abrams, ovid_abrams@platts.com

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