NY Precious Metals Review: Platinum down after 12-year high
By Melanie Lovatt, BridgeNews
New York--Sept. 7--NYMEX Oct platinum settled down $4.60 at $606.50
per ounce, erasing its gains after jumping earlier in the session to a
fresh 12-year high of $614. Dec palladium futures ended up $23.30 or 3.2%
at $763.30 per ounce after a three-week high of $768. Both jumped on
continued strong demand and growing fears that Russian shipments to Japan
will see further delays.
* * *
Traders said that while there were reports that Norilsk Nickel,
Russia's biggest platinum group metals producer, was "making noises" about
still delivering material to Japan in September, they are taking a
wait-and-see attitude. "We've heard this before from Russia and material
has failed to arrive," said one trader.
"We're seeing good consumer demand and a lack of Russian material.
People were anticipating that it would hit the market by now," said
another trader.
While platinum prices, like palladium, initially jumped, they fell back
on some profit-taking, said the trader, noting that they could test $600
on the way down. Leonard Kaplan, president at Prospector Asset Management,
said that physical supplies in platinum remain tight.
"I'm getting a lot
of calls from industrial consumers having trouble finding material," he
said.
Hmmmm
Sleeper |
