17 января. Котировки фьючерсов на золото в среду резко упали на фоне закрытия длинных позиций и фиксации прибыли.

Февральские фьючерсы на золото в ходе торгов на COMEX /подразделении Нью-йоркской товарно-сырьевой биржи/ упали в цене на 20,60 доллара до 8822 доллара за тройскую унцию.

Мартовские фьючерсы на серебро снизились в цене по итогам торгов на 40,5 цента до 15,889 доллара за унцию.

Апрельские фьючерсы на платину подешевели по итогам торгов на 16,40 доллара до 1567,10 доллара за унцию. Тем временем, мартовские фьючерсы на палладий по итогам торгов упали в цене на 6,65 доллара до 377,5850 доллара за унцию.

Итоги:

Вечерний фиксинг по золоту в Лондоне: 889,75 долларов за унцию против 913 долларов за унцию во вторник.

Цена на золото на рынке спот в США в 18.32 по Гринвичу: 881,70 доллара за унцию, на 6,90 доллара ниже по сравнению с предыдущей сессией.

Цена фьючерса на золото на февраль /GCG08/: 882 доллара за унцию /-20,60 доллара/.

Цена фьючерса на серебро на март /SIH08/: 15,895 доллара за унцию /-40,5 цента/.

Цена фьючерса на платину на апрель /PLF08/: 1567,10 доллара за унцию /-18,40 доллара/.

Цена фьючерса на палладий на март /PAH08/: 377,85 доллара за унцию /-6,65 доллара/.

/Конец/

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16 Jan 2008 22:25 RST DJ PRECIOUS METALS: Profit-Taking Slide Encouraged By Other Mkts

By Allen Sykora

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Gold and the rest of the precious metals complex fell sharply Wednesday in moves blamed largely on long liquidation and profit-taking. Catalysts included recent weakness in equities, a rise in the dollar and fall in crude oil, traders and analysts said.

February gold lost $20.60 to $882 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. As pit trade was closing, the February contract at the Chicago Board of Trade was down $19.80 to $882.70.

March silver fell 40.5 cents to $15.895. As it was closing, CBOT March silver was down 41.6 cents to $15.889.

"It's just a matter of profit-taking," said Gijsbert Groenewegen, managing partner of Gold Arrow Capital Management.

Dave Rinehimer, director of futures research with Citigroup Global Markets, pointed out that the decline began in after-hours trading Tuesday. General risk aversion set in as equities headed lower, he said.

"There is some follow-through weakness from yesterday's sell-off," he said. "Then we started to sell off again predominantly off of the rally in the dollar and further weakness in the energy markets. Commodity prices are generally lower today."

As gold was closing, the dollar index was up 0.645 point to 76.219 and the euro fell to $1.4661 from $1.4805 late Tuesday. Currency analysts linked some of this to comments from European Central Bank council member Yves Mersch saying the ECB may revise down its 2% growth forecast for this year.

February crude oil was down $1.88 to $90.02 a barrel, and weakness in this market often spills over into metals. The sell-off came on a day the Department of Energy said the nation's stockpiles of crude oil rose by 4.3 million barrels in the latest reporting week, the first rise in nine weeks.

The major commodity indices are all sharply lower.

As has been the case in some stock-market declines during the past year, observers said some of the profit-taking in the precious metals may have been to meet margin calls in equities, one trader said.

"A lot of equities were down - the Nikkei (in Tokyo), the FTSE (in London,)" said a trader. And U.S. stocks initially extended their recent decline, before bouncing off of the lows.

"A lot of hedge funds will start to get margin calls, so it becomes a cash grab - whatever they can get their hands on to generate cash," the trader said. "Right now, everybody is fully aware that they are very long in metals, so that is the ideal one to start selling and taking profits to raise cash."

There was anticipation that gold and other precious metals were probably due for a correction, and this in itself may have prompted some of the profit-taking, Rinehimer said. February gold swiftly rose from a low of $799.50 on Dec. 21 to a contract high of $916.10 Tuesday.

"The move from $800 to $900 hasn't had much of a correction," Rinehimer said. "There has been a significant build-up in speculative length, which makes the market vulnerable. So weak longs might be getting out."

A same situation exists in silver, where speculators have also been building a large net long position, he added.

A number of traders and analysts characterized the decline as a correction rather than signaling the end of a bull market. In fact, a floor contact described the pullback as "healthy" after a constant rise over the last few weeks.

"It's being picked up the whole time," said Groenewegen, in reference to buying on pullbacks. "I don't think this rally is over yet."

In particular, he said, expectations for more Federal Reserve rate cuts may mean more pressure on the U.S. dollar that in turn supports gold, he continued.

"I'm looking for gold to go to the $930 to $960 level," he said.

Gold is an asset many investors turn to for "preservation of capital," such as in the current environment where asset other classes are struggling, he said. Stocks have been on the defensive, interest rates are low and real estate is in a downturn.

Despite the pullbacks, most-active Comex gold and silver remain well above their 20-day moving averages. These stood at $854.50 for February gold and $15.29 for March silver.

They also remain above the 38.2% Fibonacci retracements of their rallies from the November low in gold, and December low in silver, to their recent peaks. These retracements are near $864 in February gold and $15.55 in March silver.

Meanwhile, April platinum declined $18.40 to $1,567.10 an ounce, while March palladium declined $6.65 to $377.85.

The long liquidation and profit-taking in gold extended to the platinum group metals, said a desk trader.

"People were expecting it to happen," he said. "This is the start of a correction."

April platinum remained above its 20-day moving average of $1,545. March palladium fell as far as $369.50, taking it below its 20-day average of $374, although it recovered back above here.

Settlements (includes open-outcry and electronic trading):

London PM Gold Fix: $889.75 versus $913 on Tuesday

Spot gold at 1:32 p.m. ET: $881.70, down $6.90 from previous day; Range: $874.85-$899.90

February gold (GCG08) $882, down $20.60; Range $875-$901

March silver (SIH08) $15.895, down 40.5 cents; Range $15.77-$16.25

April platinum (PLJ08) $1,567.10 down $18.40; Range $1,556.50-$1,579.30

March palladium (PAH08) $377.85, down $6.65; Range $369.50-$384

-By Allen Sykora, ; 541-318-8765; allen.sykoradowjones

(END)

January 16, 2008 14:25 ET (19:25 GMT)

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