Is the bull slain?

Recent weakness in the prices of oil, gold and some other commodities prompted market players to ask whether the great bull run really was over. Crude prices fell well below $60 a barrel, though hopes of a drastic output cut by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries triggered a rally above that level.

Similarly, gold stayed below $600 an ounce, as dealers waited to learn how much bullion would be sold from government reserves under the Central Bank Gold Agreement. Copper prices fluctuated following Chinese forecasts that growth in the People’s Republic’s consumption of the metal would slow from nine per cent to (a still brisk) 5.6 per cent a year, though nickel, a key ingredient in stainless steel, has continued to be robust.

Avocet Mining, the AIM-quoted gold group with interests in Malaysia, China, Indonesia and Tajikistan, shocked the market by warning of an impending 11 per cent ‘temporary’ cut in production and a 50 per cent increase in cash costs.