- Brent crude futures hit their highest level in more than
two years as oil prices firmed ahead of the latest UN weapons inspectors
report to be presented to the Security Council later on Friday.
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- President George W. Bush on Thursday sent a warning to
Hans Blix, the chief United Nations inspector, telling him that his report
on Iraq's weapons programme must be a simple judgment on whether Saddam
Hussein has fully disarmed himself of banned weapons.
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- According to a report from Reuters, Mr Blix is increasing
the pressure on Iraq to disarm as UN weapons inspectors have disputed Iraq's
claim to have destroyed 21,000 litres of biological warfare agents, including
anthrax.
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- In London, the IPE Brent crude futures contract for April
delivery reached its highest level since hitting a post Gulf War high of
$34.46 in September 1990. The front end contract hit an intra-day peak
of $33.79, before settling at $33.63 by 1045 GMT, a rise of 10 cents on
Thursday.
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- The rise followed a 53 cents gain on Thursday. Stronger
gains were made in the May, June and July contracts, indicating that the
expected drop in the oil price post any settlement with Iraq may not be
as steep as previous estimates.
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- April Nymex oil futures gained 10 cents to $37.10 in
electronic trade.
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- "Traders will be anxious ahead of the Blix speech
today and will be looking for signs of comprimise from Security Council
members shortly afterwards," said Lawerence Eagles, an oil analyst
at Man-GNI.
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- Spot gold was marginally higher in European morning trade
at $356.65/$367.15 a troy ounce versus Thursday's New York close of $356.40/$357.15.
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- "Gold appears to have stabilised a range between
the high-$340s and the mid-$350s and is looking for new factors to break
it out of this range," said John Reade, precious metals analyst at
UBS warburg.
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- "There is plenty of capacity for speculators to
add to their long positions in gold but no sign of any driver to trigger
such activity," Mr Reade said.
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- Platinum edged lower at the London opening fix of $691
an ounce versus the closing fix of $693 an ounce On Thursday, as the white
metal stepped further back from its peak this week of $703 an ounce.
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