21 November 2008 - AEST 8.30am - USD gained ground against the Euro and commodity currencies although continuing to ease against the Japanese yen - AUD fell from US63.55c to US61.40c heading into the US close near its lows - European shares again fell sharply on Wednesday with weakness concentrated in banking and energy sectors - Congress has asked US car makers to come up with a bailout plan by December 2 - US sharemarkets generally held in negative territory on Thursday - Crude oil prices fell sharply - Base metal prices continued to fall - But the price of gold again went against the trend of other commodities, rising in response to on-going demand for safe-haven assets.