Singapore - Platinum reversed early losses on Wednesday to
extend its winning streak into a seventh straight session, buoyed by rising
supply concerns after staff at top producer Anglo Platinum [JSE:AGL] downed
tools.
Workers in South Africa refused to go underground for
overnight shifts to protest an announcement from the firm, known as Amplats
that it would close mines and cut jobs.
"In the short term, platinum may see more strength,
boosted by news from Amplats," said Alice Chiu, assistant manager of PGM
trading at Heraeus Metals Hong Kong.
South African platinum production was hit last year by a
wave of violent wildcat strikes.
"Platinum will perform better than gold this year
because of improving economic outlook, but right now it may be a little
overbought," Chiu said.
Spot platinum had inched up 0.1% to $1 680.50 an ounce by
07:32 GMT, headed for a seventh straight session of gains, its longest winning
streak since early October. It rose to a three-month high of $1 699.5 the day
before.
Spot palladium was up 0.3% at $710.50 an ounce, easing from
Tuesday's intra-day high of $717.50, a level unseen since early March,
2012.
Spot gold edged up 0.3% to $1 682.69 an ounce, on track for a
third straight session of gains on expectations that the world's key central
banks will continue their ultra-loose monetary policies.
US gold was little changed at $1 682.80.
The chart outlook for gold brightened after it broke a
resistance level of $1 678 an ounce, which had pressured prices for the past
week or so, and prices are expected to rise to $1 701 an ounce, said Reuters
market analyst Wang Tao.
But gold's short-term strength could be capped by the lack
of liquidity in the market, said Li Ning, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures.
"Technicals and fundamentals are both supportive of
gold, but we are missing the flow of liquidity," she said, referring to a
more than four-month low in net long positions in US gold futures and options.
"If we see investors pour more money into this market,
it will help confirm the upward trend."
The benchmark gold futures contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange hit a record high of ¥4 828 a gram, extending its record-hitting rally
into a third session.
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