Platinum prices fall to 6-1/2 year low
LONDON, Sept 22
reuters.com
Platinum prices hit their lowest since January 2009 on Tuesday as strength in the dollar and concerns over slowing growth, particularly in major consumer China, sparked weakness across the commodities markets.
European stocks fell nearly 3 percent, indicating increased risk aversion among investors, while oil prices slid more than 2 percent and industrial metals like copper and tin fell.
Platinum, which is chiefly used as a component in autocatalysts, has been hurt by the stronger dollar, weakness in stock markets, and growth worries related to China, Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen said.
"The risk-off (environment) is no longer hurting the dollar as it did back in August," he said. "The market is beginning to contemplate a QE2 from the European Central Bank, so the dollar is the preferred currency against most others."
Spot platinum was at $934.75 an ounce at 1452 GMT, down 3.2 percent, having earlier touched a low of $931 an ounce |
