To:Bear who wrote (152) From: John Barendrecht Wednesday, Jun 25, 1997 10:58 AM Respond to of 79916
NY precious metals higher early in quiet trade NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuter) - COMEX and NYMEX precious metals futures were slightly higher as expected early Wednesday, but volumes were light, traders said.
``It looks like it might be an upday in gold and silver, but given the bearish sentiment lately I'm not that confident,'' one floor trader said.
``July silver would need to get above $4.820 to create any action,'' he said.
COMEX August gold was up $1.10 at $340.60 an ounce after the first hour of trade, while COMEX July silver was up 2.5 cents at $4.775 an ounce.
While intraday indicators suggest the momentum of the downtrend in August gold in the past few days is slowing, July silver continues to be trapped in its $4.65-4.90 range ahead of first notice day on June 30.
Open interest in the July silver contract is close to being surpassed by open interest in the September contract.
In the bullion market, spot gold was quoted $338.80/30, compared to the London Wednesday morning fix at $338.70 an ounce, and the New York close Tuesday around $337.50/00.
Spot silver was quoted $4.78/80, compared to the London Wednesday morning fix at $4.7725.
Ongoing Asian demand for gold would eventually overpower speculative short positions, amounting to many hundreds of tonnes, held by managed funds, Australian mining entrepreneur Joseph Gutnick said in a speech in Sydney overnight.
But the gold price may decline to $335 an ounce first, he warned.
NYMEX July platinum was up 60 cents at $$410.00, while NYMEX September palladium was up $2.10 at $181.00 an ounce early Wednesday.
The October NYMEX platinum/COMEX gold spread has begun to widen again this week, recovering to $60.10 an ounce early Wednesday, after a retreat from a high around $76.00 in ealry June.
In the physical market, overnight lease rates for platinum group metals can still be as high as 250 pct, refining sources said, while one month platinum is quoted around 60 pct and one month palladium around 90 pct.
Russian PGM exports, suspended for five months, were expected to resume in late June. Russia supplies about 60 pct of the world's palladium and 20 pct of its platinum.
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