IBT Staff Reporter

Commodity Online SINGAPORE: Gold prices declined but stayed above a 1 month low hit the previous day, while Tokyo's precious metals futures tumbled amid declines in commodities markets.

U.S. crude oil futures fell on Thursday as worries that an economic recession in the largest consumer of oil in the world may curb demand.

Since Wednesday, March 12, natural gas spot prices eased at virtually all markets in the Lower 48 States. Prices at the Henry Hub fell 58 cents per million Btu (MMBtu), or about 6 percent, to $9.11 per MMBtu.

The dollar rose against the euro on Thursday as investors pulled their money from commodities and put them into dollar-based investments.

Gold futures dropped sharply on Thursday, sliding further after their worst one-day drop in nearly two years, as a broad sell-off in commodities such as crude oil continued, spurred by dollar strength and further interest rate cuts.

U.S. stocks gained on Thursday as declining gold and oil prices eased inflation concerns, while an analyst said more mortgage purchases by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will help stabilize the home-loan market causing them to surge for a third day on hopes they will stabilize the housing market.

By Jim Sinclair The reason for recent drop in gold, among other reasons given by media, was the Federal Reserve s mentioning of inflationary warnings.

Commodity Online LONDON: Against the run of play, gold suffered its worst defeat in recent times as it tumbled to nearly six percent low on Wednesday.

Greenpeace has again slammed Nintendo for not making public its policies on environmental waste.

In recent weeks Apple released a software development kit for the iPhone that promises to bring a flurry of new applications to the iconic device, but breathing life into a new gaming industry may be beyond its reach.

Commodity Online WASHINGTON: The state owned Power Grid Corporation of India would get USD 600 million loan from World Bank to strengthen its electricity transmission system.

Commodity OnlineDUBAI: The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) has announced the trading and processing schedule for Good Friday, 2008, as outlined below (all references to the time are expressed on a twenty four hour clock and refer to the time in New York):

By Adrian AshBarely a generation after the worst recession in US history, backing labor over capital like this and thereby nabbing labor's far weightier vote meant JFK got to kick Richard Nixon around at the ballot box

By Jon A NonesWith gold already up by more than 19% so far this year, consolidation is healthy and to be expected, said Mark O'Byrne, executive director of Gold Silver Investments Ltd

By Adrian AshCentral bankers destroy the value of cash first with sub inflation interest rates, and then with unlimited credit aimed at bailing out bad investments across the banking sector

Commodity Online NEW YORK: Oil moved further southwards Wednesday on concerns that ongoing global economic turmoil would dent demand for commodities.

By Binu AlexThere are more companies coming up in India with energy prefix and suffix. Non conventional energy is another field where you find companies putting money

Gold prices dropped $59, the most in nearly two years Wednesday, leading a decline in commodity prices on speculation the slump in the dollar will end soon as the Federal Reserve eases the pace of interest-rate reductions.

Crude oil had its biggest decline since December 1994 on Wednesday, falling more than $6 per barrel after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates yesterday and a report today stated demand in the United States dropped.

Commodity Online MUMBAI: After a rally in gold that led to the international prices zooming to $1030 an ounce, will gold price reverse direction based on Wednesday's price level of $940 ?

Commodity Online MUMBAI: After a rally in gold that led to the international prices zooming to $1030 an ounce, will gold price reverse direction based on Wednesday's price level of $940 ?

With crude oil prices over $100 per barrel and cold weather in many parts of the country driving up demand, heating fuel prices have been setting new record highs. With residential prices from the beginning of winter to mid-March

U.S. stocks dropped on Wednesday, failing to extend the market's best day in nearly five years led mainly by energy and mining companies as oil dropped more than $4 a barrel while gold fell the most in nearly two years.

China's top e-commerce firm Alibaba.com fell below its IPO price for the first time on Tuesday before the company announced later in the day that its 2007 earnings more than quadrupled.

Robusta coffee continued rallying in London after an increase in purchases by industrial buyers such as roasters.

CITIC Securities Co, one of China's largest brokerages, formally announced on yesterday that it would cancel a proposed $1 billion investment in Bear Stearns Cos after the Wall Street brokerage was bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Affected by investor's worrying about interest rates rising, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange composite Index (SSI) fell 151.15 points,or 3.96 percent,to reach 3668.90 on Tuesday afternoon, which reached the 8-month-lowest record since July 2007. Shenzhen Stock Exchange component index fell 718.76 points,or 5.44 percent to reach 12489.02.

The FTSE 100 dropped a staggering 217.3 points down to 5,414.4 points (minus 3.9 per cent) on Monday following the shock sale of US bank Bear Stearns to rival JPMorgan Chase. The index finished at its lowest point since late 2005.

Rupert Murdoch's News International has opened the world's biggest printing plant in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, representing £650 million of investment by the company.