UK Gold Auction: Time for Reflection.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2000 The World Gold Council, in a statement issued in London, said that the fifth gold auction by the Bank of England Bank of England, central bank and note-issuing institution of Great Britain. Popularly known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, its main office stands on the street of that name in London. has again helped depress de·press v. 1. To lower in spirits; deject. 2. To cause to drop or sink; lower. 3. To press down. 4. To lessen the activity or force of something. market sentiment Market Sentiment The feeling or tone of a market (i.e. crowd psychology). It is shown by the activity and price movement of the securities. Notes: For example, rising prices would indicate a bullish market sentiment. . The London gold fix this morning priced gold at $286.15 per troy ounce Noun 1. troy ounce - a unit of apothecary weight equal to 480 grains or one twelfth of a pound apothecaries' ounce, ounce troy unit - any of the unit of the troy system of weights , but the auction price of $285.25 was below the price obtained at the fourth auction ($289.50) and substantially lower than that of the third auction ($293.50). This result, said the Council, can please no-one. The council said that the Bank of England, the Treasury, and the British taxpayer must feel let down by these auctions. The World Gold Council has long been a critic of the sale of UK gold reserves, but today's auction has also been strongly criticized by several leading City analysts, some of whom have already gone on record as saying they find the result "disappointing". It is time, said the Council, to reflect upon what the Treasury has done with the proceeds from the sale of this gold. When it announced in May 1999 that 415 tonnes of UK gold reserves (from a total of 715 tonnes would be sold, it was stated that 40 percent of the proceeds would be invested in US dollars, 40 percent in euros, and 20 percent in Japanese yen “Yen” redirects here. For the other use, see Yen (disambiguation). “JPY” redirects here. For the Australian singer with the same moniker, see John Paul Young. . As the attached chart shows, the investment in euros has been a clear failure. The price of an ounce of gold (as measured in euros) has risen from E246.37 on the day the euro was launched (January 1st 1999) to E293.80 yesterday (20th March 2000) - a rise of 19.2 percent. The US dollar has risen against gold by about one percent over the same period, while the Japanese yen has risen against the price of gold, by about five percent. The Council hoped the Treasury would now listen to the widespread view of the international gold market, and end these auctions but that if it must persist in Verb 1. persist in - do something repeatedly and showing no intention to stop; "We continued our research into the cause of the illness"; "The landlord persists in asking us to move" continue selling UK gold reserves - a policy which the WGC WGC World Gold Council WGC World Golf Championship WGC Welwyn Garden City WGC World Gaming Center WGC Writers Guild of Canada (Union) WGC Whole Grains Council WGC Wild Goose Chase WGC Working Group Coordinator believes is unwise- that it should do so through the London fix. The next auction is scheduled for May; there is still time to act, said the Council statement. Note to Editors: E = Euro Dollars |
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