Thought a place for metals news might be useful:

METALS-Copper slips, demand uncertainty dominates mood
Wed Oct 7, 2009 3:01pm EDT
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* Copper stocks rise again; highest since May * Investors eye mining labor talks * Analysts expect further support from dollar weakness
(Adds NEW YORK to dateline, recasts, adds New York closing copper
prices and analyst comments) By Chris Kelly and Rebekah Curtis NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Copper ended down a shade
on Wednesday in thin and volatile trade during Chinese holidays,
with rising stocks fueling uncertainty over demand against a
fragile economic background. Copper for December delivery HGZ9 on the New York Mercantile
Exchange's COMEX division eased 0.50 cent to settle at $2.7795 a
lb, after dealing in a session range between $2.7510 and $2.8040. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper for three-month
delivery MCU3 fell $21 to close at $6,095 a tonne. Prices of the metal used in power and construction have
doubled this year, driven by improving economic data, investor
flows and Chinese stockpiling. But sentiment has turned fragile in recent months as buying by
China, the world's top copper consumer, has tailed off and demand
from other world economies hampered by slowdown has yet to pick up
the slack. "There's been no effective economic growth caused by the
stimulus in the West," said John Meyer, analyst at Fairfax
investment bank. "We haven't seen any major infrastructure projects," he added.
"The only positive stimulus we've really seen is in China and
nearby regions." Trade was thin and volatile due a run of holidays in China
where markets shut on Oct. 1 for the National Day and Autumn
Festival holidays and only reopen on Friday. Additionally, nervousness in front of third-quarter earnings
results from aluminum producer Alcoa (AA.N) added to the lighter
conditions. "There is some nervousness out there in front of that number
that is keeping people a little bit to the sidelines today," said
Sterling Smith, an analyst for Country Hedging Inc in St. Paul,
Minnesota. "If Alcoa were to beat expectations, or up their guidance, or
preferably both, I think that will be very bullish for copper, and
for the industrial metals in general. I think you've got a lot of
hands being kind of quiet today ahead of it." A recent bout of more encouraging economic data has helped
underpin prices, including data showing German manufacturing
orders rose slightly more than expected in August on a boost from
foreign demand. [ID:nL7400974] STOCKS RISING Underlining demand concerns, LME copper stocks, which have
climbed since mid-July, rose 725 tonnes to 347,150 tonnes -- their
highest since May 2009. But recent dollar weakness is expected to support industrial
metals as a lower U.S. currency makes dollar-priced commodities
cheaper for holders of other currencies. And despite the dollar broadly firming on Wednesday, some
analysts see the currency falling further. [USD/] "If the dollar remains under pressure then the base metals
complex will continue to be supported and short players will
reduce risk," RBC Capital Markets said in a note. In the background, labor talks are being watched closely.
Chilean workers at Spence copper mine were in contract
negotiations with owner BHP Billiton (BLT.L)(BHP.AX).
[ID:nN06449937] "There are a number of potential supply issues hanging over
the market," said Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays Capital.
"That's offering a little bit of support." Aluminum MAL3 ended at $1,845 from $1,822. Zinc MZN3
closed at $1,935 a tonne from $1,921 and battery material lead
MPB3 at $2,155 from $2,150. Steel-making ingredient nickel MNI3 closed at $18,600 from
$18,130 and tin MSN3 at $14,700 from $14,675. Latest LME data showed that a dominant position still holds
more than 90 percent of tin stock warrants and cash contracts. The premium for cash material over the three-month future has
fallen to $430 a tonne from $695 a tonne last week on talk that
the position could be scaled back. [ID:nLN605546]
Metal Prices at 1842 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2008 Ytd Pct move
COMEX Cu 276.75 -0.80 -0.29 139.50 98.39
LME Alum 1835.00 13.00 +0.71 1535.00 19.54
LME Cu 6090.00 -26.00 -0.43 3060.00 99.02
LME Lead 2146.00 -4.00 -0.19 999.00 114.81
LME Nickel 18600.00 470.00 +2.59 11700.00 58.97
LME Tin 14680.00 85.00 +0.58 10700.00 37.20
LME Zinc 1940.00 19.00 +0.99 1208.00 60.60
SHFE Alu 14835.00 130.00 +0.88 11540.00 28.55
SHFE Cu* 48190.00 1720.00 +3.70 23840.00 102.14
SHFE Zin 15330.00 240.00 +1.59 10120.00 51.48
** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for
SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor and Pratima Desai in
London; Editing by Keiron Henderson and Christian Wiessner)

Commodity charts link

Gold price diving as I type 1182$

US open: Shares sharply higher04-12-2009 15:06

US shares rose sharply thanks to the optimism sparked by the fact that just 11,000 US jobs were lost last month.

The market had been expecting a 100,000 reduction in Americans on non-farm payrolls in November, so the more modest decline was met with loud applause.

There was also surprise at a drop in the unemployment rate to 10% from 10.2%.

The Dow was 141 points higher in early trading at 10,517. Du Pont was the only faller on the Dow. The company has delayed the North American launch of its new corn and soybean seeds, which have a special herbicide.

The S&P and Nasdaq rose even more sharply. The S&P was 18 points higher at 1,118 and Nasdaq rose 40 points to 2,213.

Inventories at US factories increased for the first time in more than one year in October. Factory stocks rose 0.4%, while factory orders increased 0.6% - which was better than expected. The September figure for the rise in orders was revised upwards from 0.9% to 1.6%.

It wasn't all good news on the economic front. The Economic Cycle Research Institute's US Future Inflation Gauge (USFIG), which anticipates cyclical swings in the rate of inflation, rose to 95.7 from a 93 in October. The October figure was revised upwards from 91.7. This is the eighth month in a row that the index has risen.

Discount retailer Big Lots is the biggest riser on the S&P. It more than doubled profits to 37 cents a share from 15 cents in 2008 and lifted sales by 2% to $1.04bn, both better than forecast.

General Motors chairman and acting chief executive Ed Whitacre has rejigged the car maker's management following the departure of chief executive Fritz Henderson. Bob Lutz will advise on design and development, Mark Reuss will be the North American boss and Nick Reilly takes over at GM Europe. Tim Lee will look after international operations.

Readers Digest plans to sell its CompassLearning educational technology business, which is currently the subject of a bankruptcy action. Readers Digest has made an initial agreement with a potential bidder but there is time for it to be outbid

">http://https://www.iGolder.com/gold-charts/">

Not metals news, but for the uninitiated like me a good article about Fridays sudden drop then revival. Bit long but worth a read.

So much for the Dow's 2009 high. Good news on jobs is bad news for stocks
Dan Burrows
Dec 4th 2009 at 6:45PMText SizeAAAFiled under: Economy, Investing
More

It was silly season on Wall Street Friday. November's unemployment figure -- still a dismal 10% and subject to revision -- came in stunningly better than expected and the markets immediately soared to fresh 2009 highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) alone shot up as much as 150 points in early trading.

And then, at about 11 a.m. Eastern, everybody decided to sell. "I don't know what happened," says David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "Some of it was probably just profit taking, but anybody who believes in rational markets hasn't looked at them very long."

On a Teeter-Totter

The Dow spiked, plunged and eventually finished with a wee gain. Welcome to the wacky world of equities, where good news is bad news and bad news is good news. It seems traders -- as fidgety as chipmunks but with shorter attention spans -- suddenly and collectively realized that an improving jobs picture could make their cheap-dollar-fueled bubbles blow up much sooner than expected.

Here's how: Stocks, gold and oil have all ballooned on the so-called reflation trade. That's where central banks and governments around the globe keep interests rates low (in the U.S.'s case, essentially at zero), while simultaneously flooding the world economy with stimulus spending. All that cheap liquidity has to flow somewhere, and it's been pouring into pretty much any asset class you can think of.

Magnifying this effect is that the weak dollar has become the vehicle of choice for the international carry trade. That's where traders borrow cheap currency (until recently, the yen for 16 years) to purchase higher-yielding assets such as stocks, bonds, oil, gold and commodities in general. Profit is made by pocketing the difference. As the dollar rises, borrowers of greenbacks find themselves in a short squeeze, which forces them to sell those higher-yielding assets in order to buy outright the dollars they've borrowed.

Dollar's Surprise Move

So if the economy is stabilizing faster than forecast -- as today's jobs report at first seemed to suggest -- the chipmunks figured the Fed will have to raise rates sooner than they expected. Why is that bad? Stocks and bonds drop on rate hikes even in the best of times. But in this case, it would hurt even more because a rising dollar will make all the assets it has reflated -- equities, debt, gold, oil, etc. -- fall even harder.

Which is exactly what the chipmunks did to these asset classes Friday. The dollar jumped and everything predicated on it being weak fell. Who saw that coming? Apparently no one. As Dennis Gartman, author of the well-regarded investment newsletter bearing his name, said Friday, punters who played the jobs report got what's coming to them.

"Anyone, anywhere who chooses to make material 'bets' in the world of trading/investing predicated upon the outcome of [the unemployment] report deserves the sound thrashing that he or she shall likely receive," Gartman told clients, noting that these reports are "notorious for revisions of 30% to 60%...in either direction!"

If there is some weirdly good news about Friday's market action, it's that at least the dollar/securities correlation remained intact, unlike the previous spooky session. On Thursday, small cap stocks, financials and oil fell even as the dollar sunk, too, notes Keith McCullough, CEO of ResearchEdge, a New Haven, Conn., strategy and research firm.

Rates Staying Put

"Dollar down equals stocks and commodities down?" McCullough wrote Friday. "Yes, this is new," the former hedge fund manager says. "It's called unwinding the reflation trade," says McCullough -- a situation that does not bode well for our bubbles.

Also adding to Friday's market mishegoss was that even though the employment report was a pleasant surprise when benchmarked against economists' and market expectations, "the overall labor market backdrop remains extremely fragile," wrote David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist and Canada's Gluskin Sheff. In other words, at least some of the chipmunks took the time to actually digest the data -- and they didn't like what they ate.

But getting back to the idea that the Fed might hike rates anytime soon? Well, that's just goofy. "The Fed will need to see sustainable unemployment trends before they'll raise rates," says S&P's Wyss. "And then if the fragile recovery started to fall apart, they would just drop them again."

The bottom line for retail investors is that one day in the market (or in Friday's case, 90 minutes) does not make a trend. Every day is but a single data point -- and some points are noisier than others.

INO.com Headlines
DJ PRECIOUS METALS: Comex Gold Slides As Traders Exit Positions
2 hours, 5 minutes ago

By Allen Sykora

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Gold futures are sharply lower early Monday in a continuation of the activity from Friday when traders were liquidating, or selling, to exit positions in which they previously bought, due to an uptick in the U.S. dollar after U.S. employment data that were not as weak as feared.

Around 8:56 a.m. EST (1356 GMT), February gold was down $23.90 to $1,145.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver was down 39 cents to $18.13.

"Liquidation is dominating the market right now," said Patrick Lafferty, commodity trading advisor with MF Global. "It's been such a long, strong uptrend. The dollar is not up that much. But with the dollar higher, euro currency slightly lower and crude oil down, it's feeding the liquidation frenzy in gold."

The December dollar index was 0.025 point higher at 75.995.

As recently as Thursday, February gold hit a peak of $1,227.50 an ounce that was a record high for a Comex most-active contract. The market had risen steadily over the last two months due to weakness in the dollar and concerns about longer-term inflation.

However, the dollar recaptured some of its recent weakness after a Friday report showed that November non-farm payrolls fell only 11,000 when economists were looking for a bigger decline of around 125,000.

Some of the selling in gold are traders booking profits on long positions, said Stephen Platt, an analyst with Archer Financial Services.

"The market had certainly met some intermediate-term targets up around $1,180 and exceeded that for a brief period," he said. "There is a general fear that if the economy starts showing signs of stronger recovery following the favorable jobs report, you're going to have interest rates move higher, which could at least hinder some of the buying interest we've seen in gold recently from speculative interests."

Some of the decline is due to sell stops, which are pre-placed orders triggered when certain chart points are hit. That occurred as prices fell below the $1,150 area overnight, Platt said.

A healthy 50% correction in gold's most recent upleg in late autumn and early winter would take the market back to around $1,127, Lafferty said.

Meanwhile, January platinum was down $15.70 to $1,434 an ounce, while March palladium was down $12.20 to $367.10.

-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765; allen.sykora@dowjones.com

Mining giant Xstrata is to take charges of nearly $2.5bn this year after restructuring its copper, zinc and nickel operations in Canada and Australia. In Canada, it will take a $375m charge for the permanent closure of its copper and zinc metallurgical plants at the Kidd Metallurgical site in Timmins next May, which is part of a plan to restructure its Canadian metallurgical operations.

Gold fell for the third consecutive day as the dollar extended gains against major currencies. Gold for February delivery fell $20.60 to end at $1,143.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The rising dollar and inflationary concerns have hit gold prices hard, as its appeal as an alternative investment wanes.

March copper fell 4 cents to $3.17 a pound. Silver for March was down 58 cents to $17.79 an ounce.

London open: Miners lead Footsie higher11-12-2009 08:45

London's leading shares have opened higher with miners boosted by industrial growth figures coming out of China.

Industrial production growth in China rose again in November to hit 19.1% year-on-year. It is fastest pace of growth in industrial production since June 2007. Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto and Xstrata are all going well.

Support services and construction company Carillion expects market conditions will remain challenging but said it believes it will make further progress in 2010. Underlying earnings per share are forecast to grow by at least 10% in the 12 month ended 31 December.

There are no fallers on the blue chip index at present.

Casinos and bingo outfit Rank said it has submitted a claim for VAT overpaid on main stage bingo for periods from July 2004. If successful, Rank estimates that the net cash benefit arising from this claim will be approximately 16m.

HMV's half-year loss before tax narrowed to 24.9m from 27.5m a year earlier. The entertainment media retailer's total sales in the 6 months 24 October were up 5.6% to 797m from 754.5m at the interim stage in 2008, but this masked a 2.1% decline in like for like sales that was primarily caused by weak trading at Waterstone's, its book selling arm.

HSBC Infrastructure, the trust that invests in infrastructure projects, is to pump 2.1m in to the Helicopter Training Facility private finance initiative (PFI) project.

Road and infrastructure support contractor Mouchel has seen its order book hold steady at 2bn and remains on track to met its expectations for this year to July 2010, even though the situation in Dubai has 'clearly deteriorated'.

Good demand at its signal business will mean LED sensor specialist Dialight 'will exceed its previous earnings expectations' this year.

Stock Market News Share NewsShare chatShare chartsTips

Commodities: Gold and Oil continue to look heavy as dollar recovers11-12-2009 16:10
Gold and oil continue to remain under pressure after US retail sales came in well above expectations. This has raised expectations that the Federal Reserve may have to raise rates sooner rather than later.

Gold has broken below its previous lows for this week, and support area around $1,117.30, and looks set to test the longer term support line around the $1,070 area.

Crude Oil also continues to look heavy, dropping below $70 to touch its lowest levels for over 2 months, and could well be set to test the 25th September lows at $65.05.

Technical Analysis: Gold breaks back above $1,142 11-01-2010 17:10

Last Friday's jobs data has taken the legs out of the recent US dollar rally and sent Gold back higher again, after its recent losses from its November highs of $1,226.50.

The positive economic news out of China has also led to a surge in commodity prices and a decline in the dollar, so the greenback is suffering on both fronts at the moment as risk appetite returns to the market.



The break back above the resistance highs at $1,142 should re-target the highs of last year. The key support level on the downside remains the lows around $1,070. This level also corresponds to around a 38.2 retracement of the move up from the $803 2009 lows, to the highs in November at $1,126.50.

Nothing has changed with respect to the overall Gold picture and the concerns and robustness of the US dollar as a reserve currency.

Too many central banks remain overly exposed to the greenback and there is still plenty of desire to diversify some of their counterparty risk away from US assets into commodities like Copper, Gold and Platinum.

The US dollar index can still rise along with commodity prices because the dollar index is only a representation of the dollar's value against six other currencies.

At some point Gold and the dollar could well de-couple and both push higher into 2010.

Vedanta trading statement

Gold Heads for Second Monthly Drop as Dollars Gain Cuts Demand
By Jae Hur

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Gold declined for a fourth day, heading for its second monthly decline, as the dollars advance reduced the metals appeal.

Bullion fell as much as 0.5 percent to $1,081.80 an ounce compared with last months close of $1,096.95. The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six major counterparts, rose for a fourth day to a five-month high.

Further gains in the U.S. dollar would keep gold prices on the defensive, said Toby Hassall, an analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty Ltd. in Sydney. Prices are finding support at the level of Decembers lows.

Gold for immediate delivery fell $4.30 to $1,082.80 an ounce at 2:08 p.m. in Tokyo after touching $1,073.85 yesterday, the lowest level since Nov. 3. Last month, the metal traded as low as $1,074.88

Bullion for April delivery, the most widely held futures contract, dropped 0.2 percent to $1,082.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro is trading at its weakest level in more than six months against the dollar before a report today that economists said will show Europes unemployment rate climbed to the highest in more than 11 years. The 16-nation currency also fell on speculation budget crises in Greece and Portugal will worsen.

The dollar last traded at $1.3933 per euro after earlier reaching $1.3913, the strongest since July 14. The Dollar Index rose for a fourth day to 79.078 after touching 79.156, the highest level since Aug. 19.

Under Pressure

The dollar is the natural beneficiary of euro-zone uncertainty, according to Walter de Wet, an analyst at Standard Bank Ltd. in London. Commodities prices, especially gold, may come under pressure, he said.

Eleven of 22 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg said that bullion would decline next week. Seven forecast higher prices and four were neutral.

Among other precious metals, silver for immediate delivery eased 0.1 percent to $16.2325 an ounce after touching $15.9925 yesterday, the lowest level since Oct. 2. Palladium dropped 0.8 percent to $416.80 an ounce, while spot platinum was little changed at $1,511.13 an ounce.

The results season for mining companies remains in full flow with Xstrata, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all set to give fourth quarter updates next week.

Credit Suisse is forecasting a 31% year on year fall in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for Swiss-headquartered miner Xstrata and a 30% fall in net income, due to lower commodity prices, especially in the thermal coal and ferrochrome markets.

Underlying earnings per share (EPS) are tipped by the Swiss bank to be $1, slightly below the market consensus of $1.03.

We expect the company to provide an upbeat outlook on growth prospects. Several projects received approval in December 09 and we expect several more to follow this year, Credit Suisse said. Factoring in the most probable unapproved projects we could see volumes in the key copper and thermal coal divisions increase by 58% and 42% respectively over the next five years, the bank predicts.

Xstrata is issuing its results on Monday.

U.S. gold hits 3-month low on risk-averse selling
Fri Feb 5, 2010 3:19pm EST
NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures fell to their
lowest in more than three months on Friday, ending the week 2
percent lower, as economic uncertainties led to heavy selling
in gold and other investments perceived as riskier.

GOLD
* April GCJ0 settles down $10.20 at $1,052.80 an ounce on COMEX division of NYMEX.
* Range $1,069.40 to $1,044.50 -- weakest since Oct. 30.
* April was about 2 percent lower from last Friday's close
at $1,083.80.
* Gold pressured as euro fell below key $1.37, the lowest
level since May. [USD/]
* CitiFX recommends exiting short euro/dollar trade as
heavy support seen at $1.36 area.
* Rise in sovereign risk in euro-zone countries to increase
risk aversion, weighing heavily on gold - James Steel of HSBC.
* April briefly traded higher after U.S. Jan. jobs report.
* Payrolls fell unexpectedly in January, but unemployment rate surprisingly dropped to a five-month low. [ID:nN04115255]
* Sell-off may be buying opportunity as institutional players allocating more to gold in long term - HSBC's Steel.
* Oil briefly dropped below $70 a barrel on broad-based
commodities weakness
* Gold-to-oil ratio at 14.86, against 14.52 in the previous
session.
* COMEX estimated final volume at 224,472 contracts.
* Spot gold XAU= at $1,065.10 at 3:07 p.m. EST (2007
GMT), against $1,062.60 in late New York business.
* London afternoon gold fix XAUFIX= at $1,058. SILVER
* March SIH0 ends down 52 cents, or 3.4 percent, at
$14.83 an ounce, tracking gold.
* Range $15.380 to $14.650 - lowest since September.
* COMEX estimated final volume at 59,980 lots.
* Spot silver XAG= at $15.03 an ounce, compared with $15.23 late in the previous session in New York.
* London silver XAGFIX= afternoon fix at $15.17 an ounce.
PLATINUM
* April PLJ0 finishes down $40.20, or 2.7 percent, at $1,475.10 an ounce as weaker economic sentiment hurts industrial metals.
* Spot platinum XPT= at $1,476 an ounce. PALLADIUM
* March palladium PAH0 closes down $10.15, or 2.5 percent, at $398.25 an ounce, taking the lead from platinum.
* Spot palladium XPD= at $395.50 an ounce.

Close Change Pct 2009 YTD

Chg Close % Chg
US gold GCJ0 1052.80 -10.2 -1.0 1096.20 -4.0
US silver SIH0 14.830 -0.520 -3.4 16.845 -12.0
US platinum PLJ0 1475.10 -40.20 -2.7 1471.00 0.3
US palladium PAH0 398.25 -10.15 -2.5 408.85 -2.6

Prices at 2:39 p.m. EST (1939 GMT)

Gold XAU= 1061.30 -1.30 -0.1 1096.35 -3.2
Silver XAG= 14.90 -0.33 -2.2 16.84 -11.5
Platinum XPT= 1469.00 -30.50 -2.0 1465.50 0.2
Palladium XPD= 394.50 -12.000 -3.0 405.50 -2.7
Gold Fix XAUFIX= 1058.00 5.75 0.5 1104 -4.2
Silver Fix XAGFIX= 15.17 -96.00 -6.0 16.99 -10.7
Platinum Fix XPTFIX= 1475.00 2.00 0.1 1466 0.6
Palladium Fix XPDFIX= 395.00 8.00 2.1 402 -1.7
(Reporting by Frank Tang; Editing by Walter Bagley)

Analysts expected trade to quiet down in the lead up to the Chinese new
year holiday that will close the Chinese market for a week from Feb. 14. Some analysts were confident the longer-term outlook for base metals demand
and prices remained strong. "The global economic recovery is still on track, Chinese demand is still
very robust, policy makers are in no rush to reduce liquidity, and many base
metals are still facing structural supply shortages," Leon Westgate, an analyst
at Standard Bank, said in a note. But top global miner BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) signaled caution over a
sustained global recovery and held off from a share buyback after reporting its
weakest first-half profit in four years. [ID:nSGE61800Z] Aluminum MAL3 ended at $2,030, down from $2,056. Stocks of aluminum stand near 4.6 million tonnes, but fell 5,750 tonnes to
continue a recent trend of drops that has brought stocks away from a record
high above the 4.6 million-tonne level. Zinc MZN3 closed at $2,114 from $2,104 and battery material lead MPB3
ended at $2,045 from $2,032.5. Tin MSN3 closed at $15,700 from $15,500 and nickel MNI3 at $17,710 from
$17,550.

BHP, China Agree 40% Provisional Ore Price Gain, Analyst Says
By Bloomberg News

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., the worlds biggest mining company, and some Chinese steelmakers have agreed to a provisional 40 percent increase in contract iron-ore prices, said UC361.com analyst Hu Kai, citing the mills.

Final benchmark contract-price agreements for the year may still be settled first by Japanese mills and the ore producers, Hu said in a phone interview, without naming any of the mills. Some of the annual Chinese contracts start from Jan. 1, he said.

Talks to set 2010 benchmark prices have begun between mills and suppliers including BHP and Rio Tinto Group, the China Iron & Steel Association said this week. Baosteel Group Corp. and Rio have named new negotiators, signaling the mills and miners want to start afresh after failing to agree on prices last year.

The steelmakers were asked either to accept the provisional price gain, or indexed pricing, UC361.coms Hu said. BHP said last month it sold 46 percent of its first-half ore cargoes from Western Australia through a mix of cash, quarterly and index pricing.
Full story.

Gold Falls, Paring Weekly Gain, as Dollar Gains on Greece Woes
By Kim Kyoungwha

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Gold declined, paring its first weekly advance in five, on speculation the dollar will strengthen against major global currencies as the European Union struggles with fiscal deficits in member states.

Gold for immediate delivery slipped 0.5 percent to $1,090.52 an ounce at 1:45 p.m. in Singapore, after jumping 2.2 percent yesterday. The metal has gained 2.3 percent this week. The euro traded near a one-week low against the dollar after the EU stopped short of offering concrete steps to help Greece following a summit yesterday.

Gold remains in a tight temporary trading range, with price downside limited by golds ongoing attraction in the face of economic uncertainty, said Gavin Wendt, Sydney-based senior resource analyst with Mine Life Pty Ltd. On the other hand, immediate upside is limited by some degree of strength in the U.S. dollar.

The euro weakened as statements by European leaders left open how the EU would respond to the threat to the currency from budget deficits in Greece, Spain and Portugal.

The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenbacks strength, gained as much as 0.2 percent to 80.149 today.

Nine of 22 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 41 percent, said bullion would rise next week. Six forecast lower prices and seven were neutral.

While the inverse relationship between the dollar and the gold price has dominated the market over the past few weeks, gold prices are expected to remain well supported, Ben Westmore, an analyst with National Bank of Australia, wrote in a note to clients. A rise in jewelry consumption and further central bank purchases of gold on price moderation are expected, he wrote.

Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.2 percent to $15.69 an ounce, platinum slid 0.3 percent to $1,525.25 an ounce and palladium decreased 0.6 percent to $419.88 an ounce.

Gold Falls, Paring Weekly Gain, as Dollar Gains on Greece Woes
By Kim Kyoungwha

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Gold declined, paring its first weekly advance in five, on speculation the dollar will strengthen against major global currencies as the European Union struggles with fiscal deficits in member states.

Gold for immediate delivery slipped 0.5 percent to $1,090.52 an ounce at 1:45 p.m. in Singapore, after jumping 2.2 percent yesterday. The metal has gained 2.3 percent this week. The euro traded near a one-week low against the dollar after the EU stopped short of offering concrete steps to help Greece following a summit yesterday.

Gold remains in a tight temporary trading range, with price downside limited by golds ongoing attraction in the face of economic uncertainty, said Gavin Wendt, Sydney-based senior resource analyst with Mine Life Pty Ltd. On the other hand, immediate upside is limited by some degree of strength in the U.S. dollar.

The euro weakened as statements by European leaders left open how the EU would respond to the threat to the currency from budget deficits in Greece, Spain and Portugal.

The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenbacks strength, gained as much as 0.2 percent to 80.149 today.

Nine of 22 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 41 percent, said bullion would rise next week. Six forecast lower prices and seven were neutral.

While the inverse relationship between the dollar and the gold price has dominated the market over the past few weeks, gold prices are expected to remain well supported, Ben Westmore, an analyst with National Bank of Australia, wrote in a note to clients. A rise in jewelry consumption and further central bank purchases of gold on price moderation are expected, he wrote.

Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.2 percent to $15.69 an ounce, platinum slid 0.3 percent to $1,525.25 an ounce and palladium decreased 0.6 percent to $419.88 an ounce.

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Anglo May Resume Dividend Payment After Asset Sales (Update1)

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Anglo American Plc may announce a resumption of dividends as early as tomorrow after agreeing to sell part of its Tarmac construction materials unit for $400 million, Credit Suisse Group AG and Liberum Capital Ltd. said.

Anglo, which reports full-year results tomorrow at 7 a.m. in London, scrapped the payout a year ago as commodity prices plunged. The companys shares tumbled 17 percent, the biggest slump in four months, on Feb. 20, the day the suspension was announced. Rival London-listed mining companies Rio Tinto Group and Xstrata Plc restored their dividends last week.

The miner will be keen to restart the dividend as soon as possible, particularly given how badly the dividend cut was taken by investors last year, Credit Suisse analysts Michael Shillaker and Liam Fitzpatrick wrote yesterday in a note. The London-based analysts have an outperform rating on Anglo.

Anglos Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Carroll, who rejected a proposed bid for the company from Switzerlands Xstrata last year, has been trying to regain investors confidence and curb debt with a planned $2 billion in savings from job and cost cuts. Her suspension of dividend payments was the first by the company since World War II.

The company, with stakes in the worlds biggest platinum and diamond producers, said Feb. 16 it will sell parts of its building aggregates unit to Frances Vinci SA and buyout fund Innova/4 LP. Commodity prices rose last year with copper and zinc, mined by Anglo, doubling on the London Metal Exchange.

Diamonds and Platinum

A token dividend is affordable and justifiable, said Liberum Capital, a London-based investment bank, in a note yesterday. The market is not anticipating a dividend restart though we believe Anglo could surprise the market.

Anglo American wont declare a dividend until August 2011, according to forecasts and analysis Bloomberg compiled. Analysts at UBS AG and Macquarie Group said the company wont likely announce a resumption tomorrow. Anglo Americans London-based spokesman James Wyatt-Tilby declined to comment.

Rio and Xstrata revived dividends after selling shares through rights offers and as iron ore and coal prices rose, while Anglo American gets revenue from diamonds and platinum that advanced at a slower pace, according to Henk Groenewald, an analyst at Cape Town-based Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.

Anglo still has a lot of debt, he said. The company, with net debt of $11.3 billion as of June 30, controls Anglo Platinum Ltd., the biggest maker of the precious metal, and holds 45 percent of De Beers, the largest diamond producer.

Anglos Pledge

The parent will report so-called underlying profit fell 54 percent to $1.99 a share in 2009, according to the median of 24 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Xstrata said last week that its full-year net income declined 41 percent, while Rio posted a 33 percent increase.

Anglo has also pledged to take up its full allocations in a 12.5 billion-rand ($1.6 billion) rights offer by Anglo Platinum and a $1 billion offer by De Beers.

Shares of Anglo have dropped 10 percent so far this year in London Stock Exchange trading, while Xstrata is down 4 percent and Rio has climbed 0.7 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd., the worlds largest mining company, is down 0.6 percent.

More than any other company, more than Rio, the canceling of the dividend went down really badly, and theyve come under a lot of pressure since, said Tom Gidley-Kitchin, an analyst with Charles Stanley Group Plc in London.