Good afternoon
US-services industry very strong, Europe better than expected - but manufacturing in the EU still very slow.
US$ strengthening , again - hurting gold a bit more, but not doing any harm to base metals. They are very strong today - helped by the above and also some better feelings towards China. They are targeting 6-6.5% growth this year - I think everybody would be happy with 6%!
Nickel the stand-out base metal- climbing by 3% to 6,20 US$ or a very nice 8,77 A$/lb! The chart looks great - but is also calling for some consolidation, in my opinion.
Analysts are very divided about the outlook for iron ore, following the Brazilian desaster.
Equities in general are pretty flat today - not a bad performance, following a 10-14% move in major markets this year, and even 27% in China! No surprise, that gold holdings of ETF´s are falling since January 31th! There is just too much positive mood around. A bit strange - just 10 weeks ago markets looked very scary!
Strike - see more upside from the drilling in the Perth Basin - also a chance to find some oil, following more seismic´s being interpretet. The all-important well will be drilled in May - I just hope, that we will ahve positive gas flows from the Copper Basin earlier than that!
Paringa - have finally produced their first coal - but a few things remain to be completed, before full ramp-up can follow. Some changes to the ventilation system, some further development. First sales expected towards the end of this month. The company might just be able to do it without further equity! If yes, there is a lot of upside here - the market is still cautious, though, as they have disppointed us a few times over the last 6-9 month.
Not much else to report today!
WS