(Updates to afternoon, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Platinum hovered near an
historic high above $2,000 an ounce on Friday, rebounding from
session lows as speculative buying resumed, while gold rose on
expectations of more interest rate cuts in the United States.
Platinum <XPT=> hit a low of $1,984 an ounce before buying
interest from Japanese speculators pushed it up to $2,006/2,013
an ounce, higher than $1,997/2,007 an ounce late in New York.
The white, lustrous metal jumped as high as $2,025 on
Thursday as a power crisis in South Africa, the world's main
producer, forced another miner to forecast lower output in
2008.
"The $2,000 mark is the make-or-break level. That's where
the funds want it to be," said William Kwan, a dealer at
Phillip Futures in Singapore.
South Africa, which accounts for 80 percent of global
platinum supply, has been hard hit by power cuts since early
January, forcing mines to shut for five days last month and
sending platinum prices to historic highs.
South Africa's state power firm Eskom said on Thursday it
would increase coal purchases and buy back electricity from
those industrial users able to reduce consumption under a plan
to address crippling shortages. []
"I think the physical side is still okay because I believe
some players are holding some stocks," said a dealer at a major
trading house in Tokyo.
"But I guess this power supply problem is related to the
mid to long-term supply availability, so it's easy for
speculators to come to the market and push up prices. Also this
kind of market is quite thin," he said.
Japanese platinum futures were at record highs. The most
active December contract <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange rose 211 yen per gram to 6,676 yen.
Impala Platinum <IMPJ.J>, the world's No. 2 producer, on
Thursday forecast "very tight market conditions", while No. 1
producer Anglo Platinum <AMSJ.J> said this week the power
problem alone would cut output by as much as 120,000ounces in
2008.
Gold <XAU=> rose to $910.10/910.90 an ounce from
$907.10/907.90 an ounce late in New York.
The prospect of more U.S. interest rate cuts was likely to
support gold but funds and jewellers were still keen to sell
following gold's rise to record highs around $936 in early
February, said Kwan of Phillip Futures.
"The stockpiles of refiners in Zurich seem to be quite
high. They are probably sellers in the market right now," said
Kwan, referring to refiners who cast gold bars for sales to
investors around the world.
"If there's any reversal, the funds might be the first to
sell it down but the retail side is still short," said Kwan,
who expected gold to trade in a range of $890 to $915 on
Friday.
Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on
Thursday reinforced the impression the Fed will slash its
benchmark rate by 50 basis points when the U.S. central bank
holds its next policy meeting in March.
In theory, a rate cut will boost gold's appeal as an
alternative investment to currencies and bonds.
Bernanke told the U.S. Senate Banking Committee the central
bank "will act in a timely manner as needed to support growth
and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks."
The euro was barely changed at $1.4630 <EUR=>, while the
dollar <JPY=> slipped to 107.65 yen.
Palladium <XPD=> firmed to $439/443 an ounce from $433/437
an ounce. Silver <XAG=> edged up to $17.31/17.36 an ounce from
$17.24/17.29 in New York.
COMEX's April gold futures <GCJ8> added $2.0 an ounce to
$912.8 an ounce.
Precious metals prices at 0627 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 910.10 1.60 +0.18 9.30
Spot Silver 17.31 0.08 +0.46 17.20
Spot Platinum 1999.00 2.00 +0.10 31.51
Spot Palladium 439.00 6.00 +1.39 19.29
TOCOM Gold 3185.00 -10.00 -0.31 4.08
42381
TOCOM Platinum 6681.00 216.00 +3.34 25.14
53937
TOCOM Silver 605.10 -6.70 -1.10 11.85
976
TOCOM Palladium 1560.00 -1.00 -0.06 15.47
5154
Euro/Dollar 1.4649
Dollar/Yen 108.08
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
