Singapore (Platts)--10Jan2008

The spot price of gold in Hong Kong Thursday morning slipped from the
previous day, but remained firmly above $880/oz. It was around
$883.60-884.10/oz in the morning trading session, down from $886.20-886.70/oz
at Wednesday's close.
Gold was seen steady around $886/oz in Asia Wednesday. "The Shanghai
Futures Exchange saw the debut of gold futures yesterday. Maybe the Chinese
participants were supporting gold so as to make sure its debut price is high,"
a trader said.
During the London trading session Wednesday gold set a record, hitting
$891.70/oz. Firm oil prices, a poor US economic outlook and geopolitical
concerns helped the spike in gold.
However, gold slipped below $890/oz during the New York trading session
Wednesday on a slightly firmer US dollar and weaker oil price.
The dollar rose slightly in early trade on New York Wednesday on
prospects of a possible UK interest rate cut Thursday. The dollar opened
higher at Yen 109.42 Wednesday from Yen 109.36 at Tuesday's close, while the
Euro fell to $1.4690 from $1.4710. The dollar remained firm on the back
of weak German economic data, and closed at Yen 109.45 and $1.4661 per euro.
February crude futures on NYMEX settled 66 cents lower at $95.67/barrel
Wednesday, shrugging off a 6.8 million-barrel fall in US commercial stocks
reported by the Energy Information Administration.
The US stock markets closed higher on bargain-hunting. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average closed 146.24 points higher at 12,735.31 and the NASDAQ
Composite Index closed 1.39% higher at 2,474.55.
"The rise of gold to a record high resulted in profit-taking, which
caused it to dip during the New York trade," the first trader said.
Another trader said Thursday morning trade in Asia was quiet. "Gold was
only moving in a narrow $1-2/oz range the whole morning," he said.
The first trader said participants were cautious and all eyes remained
focused on the US economy.
He pegged the support level at $870/oz and resistance at $888/oz.
Meanwhile, most gold futures, both standard contracts of 1 kg and mini
gold contracts of 100 g gold bars, trading on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange,
were firmer.
The February and June-December 2008 standard contracts gained Yen
5-12(4.6-11 cents)/g, settling at Yen 3,120-3,145/g, while the April 2008
contract held steady at Yen 3,127/g. Turnover totaled 45,745 contracts in the
morning session, down sharply from 94,131 contracts Wednesday, indicating slow
trade.
The mini February and June 2008 contracts rose Yen 10-12/g, settling at
Yen 3,125-3,131/g, while the April 2008 contract dipped Yen 7/g to Yen
3,120/g. Turnover totaled 1,067 contracts, down from 4,016 contracts
Wednesday.