11th September 2001
Today's terrorist attacks on The World Trade Centre in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington have been alarming. The Gold Price leapt this afternoon by £10 or £16, about 6%, on the news. The New York gold market reacted up sharply from $271 to $278 before closing just after 2 p.m. G.M.T., or 9 a.m. E.S.T.

London Fix
In London gold fixed £10 higher in the afternoon, up from £186 to £196, an increase of about 6%.
We heard that gold was trading in Dubai later at $315.

London Fix - Tuesday 11th September 2001

	London A.M.	London P.M.
US$	$271.40	$287
GB£	£186.427	£196.172
Euro	€302.733	€317.654

Long Term Effects
At the time of writing, our guess is that the price will ease off by morning, but we would not be surprised if it continued to rise higher. Whichever way the immediate price moves, we believe that the terrorist attack will have a longer term effect of alerting people to the vulnerability of currencies including the dollar, to equities, and to the world economy. In this event we would not be surprised to see gold regaining its previous importance as a hedge against uncertainty.

Bank of England Gold Auction
For gold, this latest news arrives at a slightly sensitive time. Tomorrow there is the third of the current, and last series of Bank of England Gold Auctions. The last three are due to be held in November 2001, January 2002, and March 2002. It is possible that tomorrow's auction may be postponed.

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