| India gold futures fall, may test Rs 11,000
MUMBAI: Gold futures fell on Friday, after having seen a record high earlier this week, as overseas investors sold gold to cover margin calls in stocks and softer crude oil added bearish pressure, analysts said. "Overall it is in a selling mode again," said an analyst at IL&FS Investsmart Commodities Ltd. "But it may bounce back again after testing its supports." Another analyst, K N Rahaman, senior analyst at Way 2 Wealth Securities Ltd, said the benchmark February gold on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) could test Rs 11,000 per 10 grams. "But I am not bearish, slowly it can recover," Rahaman added. The factors that backed gold's rally -- chances of a rate cut in the US and the growing clout of the commodities asset class -- are likely to continue supporting gold, the analysts said.
Platinum Hits Record on Supply Concerns
Other commodities traded broadly higher, with wheat futures rebounding after days of losses and energy futures also rising. Platinum has shot up 15 percent this month amid supply concerns fed by a South African energy shortage, which has slowed the vital mining industry and sent commodities prices spiking. The country's state-run power utility said Wednesday that the mines and other major customers will receive only 90 percent of their usual power supply until 2012 _ raising worries of significant setbacks in platinum production for years to come. Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the world's second-largest platinum producer, said Thursday it has already lost 10,000 ounces in output and could lose another 10,000 ounces under the energy restrictions, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
STX Pan Ocean wins $273m coal shipping contract
SINGAPORE-LISTED STX Pan Ocean 028670.KS said the firm has won a contract to transport steaming coal worth $273 million. The South Korean dry bulk commodities shipper said that the 15-year deal, with Korea Southern Power Ltd, begins in 2011 and will be a stable source of profit for the company. -- REUTERS .
POWER TRANSFER Economic Reckoning Looms In Argentina's Election
Shell's problems started in 2005 when it raised pump prices in line with rising international oil prices. Mr. Kirchner immediately used his bully pulpit to call for a boycott of Shell, urging Argentines to refrain from buying "even a can of oil." The company quickly rescinded a gasoline price increase after pro-government protestors marched on its service stations. Things got hotter for Shell last December when the government accused it of failing to stock sufficient supplies of diesel fuel. Using the 1974 antihoarding law promulgated under Mr. Perón, Mr. Moreno has levied fines of almost $20 million against the company and sought jail time for the company's local president, an Argentine citizen. Shell, which says it did nothing wrong and is contesting the charges in an Argentine court, maintains it is being singled out for harsh treatment.
Oil nudges higher after $2 fall, eyes dollar
SINGAPORE: Oil rose marginally in thin trade on Friday after falling sharply a day ago on concerns about the US economy, the strengthening dollar and the market's failure to break above a key resistance level. US light sweet crude futures for January delivery rose 36 cents to $92.61 a barrel after falling by $2.14 a day ago, halving gains from Wednesday when the market was buoyed by a US oil stock draw and a global central bank cash injection. London Brent crude rose 41 cents to $92.53. Oil prices touched a two-week high of $94.85 a barrel on Wednesday and Thursday, which may have triggered the reversal. "We have been feeling that there seems to be quite heavy resistance at $95 at the moment, we failed to break above it for two days, which is why people may have taken profits," said Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Astmax Futures Co Ltd in Tokyo.
Judge declares pilot Fossett legally dead
On Friday, months after Fossett disappeared in a remote Nevada desert, a judge in Chicago declared him legally dead. His body has not been found.He has been missing since Sept. 3, when he took off on what was to have been an easy three-hour flight to scout for dry lake beds for use in his upcoming attempt to break the land speed record in a car whose engine once powered an Air Force fighter jet.The loss of Fossett, a man credited with almost Houdini-like abilities to survive impossible situations, reverberated around the globe. Many believed that if anyone could trump the survival odds, it would be this international man of action and daring who was best known for circumnavigating the world solo in both a hot-air balloon and an airplane.Last fall, as searchers scoured some 20,000 square miles of Nevada desert in their search for the missing aviator, they found numerous decades-old crashes of other long-missing downed pilots.
Dion hints Liberals willing to let budget stand
Cue the personal attacks from the Harpercrite apologists. Care to try and make your point without attacking his english (which is as good or better than Harper's french, IMO), his heritage, his physique, or other superficial and irrelevant things? Can you do it? Didn't think so. Don't feel too bad....neither can the CPC. Their attack ads are all sizzle and no steak. And pathetic, to boot. That's why your hero's party is basically in a tie with Dion's in the polls. That's why Harper will never get his majority. Thank goodness. Posted 19/02/08 at 1:52 AM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .
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