(Updates to afternoon)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Platinum hit another record
high on Monday on lingering supply concerns in South Africa,
which produces four-fifths of the world's supply of the metal,
while gold firmed near an historic high.
Platinum has gained nearly 25 percent so far this year
after power shortages disrupted mining in South Africa,
triggering worries about a bigger market deficit for 2008. The
metal is used in jewellery and auto catalysts to clean exhaust
fumes.
Platinum <XPT=> hit a bid high of $1,887 an ounce, up from
$1,880/1,888 late in New York on Friday, lifting sister metal
palladium to its highest in six years.
Uncertainties in the dollar's outlook amid the turmoil in
credit markets and volatile stock markets have also encouraged
investors to buy platinum as well as gold, silver and
palladium.
"Gold might hit $1,000 and platinum might hit $2,000 by the
end of the first quarter," said William Kwan, a dealer at
Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"It may be short lived after all the frenzy, and they will
retrace back," he added.
South Africa has appealed to mining companies for help in
cutting power consumption to ease a power crisis caused by the
failure of electricity generation to match economic growth.
Analysts say the platinum deficit could widen to more than
400,000 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.
[]
Spot gold <XAU=> firmed to $921.50/922.40 an ounce from
$918.00/918.70 an ounce in New York, holding near a record high
of $936.50 an ounce hit on Feb. 1 and off a 2-week low of
$885.30 struck on Feb. 5.
"Whenever you see a price dip, all the buyers will jump
back in. It's still quite a good investment alternative," said
Kwan of Phillip Futures.
Dealers said gold was likely to trade in a $908 to $932
range on Monday, with movements in the dollar against other
currencies likely to offer direction.
"We can say the downside is $880 and $890. There seems to
be good support at those levels," said Ronald Leung, director
of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
The euro rose on Monday after the head of the European
Central Bank suggested easing monetary policy was not on the
bank's agenda because inflationary pressures persisted in the
euro zone. []
The euro inched up to $1.4525 from $1.4509 late in New York
on Friday.Currency trade was thin because Japan was marking a
public holiday, while China was celebrating Lunar New Year.
COMEX's April gold futures <GCJ8> rose $3.7 an ounce to
$926.0 an ounce.
Palladium <XPD=> rose to $438/443 an ounce from $436/441
late in New York. Silver <XAG=> edged up to $17.18/17.23 an
ounce from $17.10/17.15 in New York.
Precious metals prices at 0740 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 921.80 -1.70 -0.18 10.70
Spot Silver 17.19 0.02 +0.12 16.38
Spot Platinum 1885.00 5.00 +0.27 24.01
Spot Palladium 438.00 2.00 +0.46 19.02
Euro/Dollar 1.4552
Dollar/Yen 107.11
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
