Friday December 28, 2007

Gold, oil rise after Bhutto assassination, platinum hits record

reuters.com :

Gold hit a one-month high on Thursday [27 Dec 2007] as buying picked up after news that Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in an attack. Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi, her party said. Police said a suicide bomber fired shots at Bhutto as she was leaving the rally venue in a park before blowing himself up.

Spot gold rose as high as $830.05 an ounce, the highest since November 26. Gold has gained more than 30% this year. Spot platinum set a historic peak, tracking gold prices and supported by positive fundamentals, traders said. Spot platinum rose to a record $1,542.00 an ounce. A weaker dollar after data showing lower-than-expected U.S. durable goods orders in November also supported precious metals. Gold held in New York-listed StreetTRACKS Gold Shares, the world's largest gold-backed fund, rose to a record high of 627.88 tonnes on Wednesday.

reuters.com :

Oil rose on Thursday on falling U.S. crude stocks and mounting geopolitical tensions after the killing of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. U.S. oil settled up 65 cents at $96.62 a barrel after trading up to $97.79 earlier, the highest level since November 26. U.S. government data showed crude oil inventories off 3.3 million barrels in the week to December 21 to the lowest level since January 2005. Analysts had expected only a 1 million barrel draw.

Bhutto was assassinated as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, putting January 8 polls in doubt and sparking anger in her native Sindh province. "Pakistan is a crucial country in the region and prospects for political uncertainty are leading to some nervousness (which is reflected in) gold, bond and oil prices rising and the dollar dipping," said Audrey Childe-Freeman, European economist at CIBC bank in London.

Oil hit a record $99.29 a barrel on November 21 on concerns about consumer nation supplies ahead of winter and the U.S. dollar's decline against other currencies, which supported commodities denominated in the greenback.

See also :

1. Platinum price hits a record high
2. Crude oil hits $99.29

(2007-12-28 13:08:32 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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