(Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, March 11 (Reuters) - Platinum rallied 4 percent
on Tuesday as speculators jumped into the market after a drop
the previous day, while gold tracked oil's fall from record
highs.
Weaker gold attracted buying from jewellers and investors
in Thailand but holders in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest
consumer, sold bullion to get cash after the rupiah <IDR=> hit
a one-month low against the dollar.
Spot platinum <XPT=> hit a high of $2,060 an ounce, up from
$1,980/1,990 late in New York on Monday, when it tumbled to its
lowest in almost four weeks at $1,926 on news that miners in
South Africa would get more power supply. Supply concerns
triggered by mining disruptions in South Africa, the world's
main producer, propelled platinum to a record high of $2,290 an
ounce on March 4. The metal, used in auto catalysts and
jewellery, has risen as much as 50 percent in 2008.
"Fundamentally, the platinum market is still driven by
fears of tight supply. It's difficult for us to expect miners
to go back to full operation without enough power supply," said
a precious metals dealer in Tokyo.
"Investment demand is quite strong and I don't think supply
will catch up with demand. Of course, the price will go up
quite fast, but profit taking will also happen because
speculators want to enjoy a huge amount of profit," he said.
South African power utility Eskom [] is in the
process of restoring power to 95 percent of normal levels to
the mining industry. []
Analysts say the global platinum deficit could widen to
500,000 to 600,000 ounces by the end of 2008, compared with
about 265,000 ounces in 2007. The market had a surplus of
65,000 ounces in 2006, following seven successive years of
deficits.
"I think the market would need a further downward
correction before it can climb strongly again," said Hisaaki
Tasaka, analyst at Ace Koeki Co Ltd in Tokyo.
Gold <XAU=> slipped to $973.70/974.50 an ounce from
$974.10/974.90 late in New York on Monday and remained below a
record high of $991.90 an ounce hit on March 6.
Gold struggled to sustain the uptrend after a failure to
break through the $1,000 barrier last week. It has gone up as
much as 19 percent in 2008, driven by record high oil and
expectations of further interest rates cuts in the United
States.
"The key resistance is currently at $992 and only on a
breach of this level can gold's move beyond $1,000 be
confirmed," said Pradeep Unni, analyst at Vision Commodities in
Dubai.
He pegged the downside around $940 an ounce.
Oil was steady below a record near $108 a barrel as
investors sought a hedge against a weak dollarand inflation.
[]
Gold futures for April delivery <GCJ8> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $3.4 an ounce
to $975.1.
The benchmark contract for February 2009 delivery <0#JPL:>
on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended 298 yen per gram lower at
6,409 yen after tumbling by daily 300-yen limit to 6,407 yen as
a surging yen triggered heavy selling from speculators.
Silver <XAG=> edged up to $19.83/19.86 an ounce from
$19.64/19.69. Spot palladium <XPD=> fell to $465/473 an ounce
from $467/472 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0832 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 973.40 0.40 +0.04 16.90
Spot Silver 19.83 0.17 +0.86 34.26
Spot Platinum 1993.00 13.00 +0.66 31.12
Spot Palladium 466.50 -0.50 -0.11 26.77
TOCOM Gold 3218.00 -26.00 -0.80 5.16
73919
TOCOM Platinum 6409.00 -298.00 -4.44 20.04
43946
TOCOM Silver 652.00 -22.80 -3.38 20.52
3706
TOCOM Palladium 1612.00 -100.00 -5.84 19.32
6346
Euro/Dollar 1.5364
Dollar/Yen 101.93
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by
Michael Urquhart)
