(Updates to late afternoon)
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Platinum advanced to a record high on Thursday as
concerns over supply problems in South Africa attracted strong demand from
investors, with a sharp rise in Tokyo platinum futures providing upward
momentum.
The benchmark platinum futures contract for December delivery <0#JPL:> on
the Tokyo Commodity Exchange jumped 2.7 percent to a record-high 5,989 yen a
gram.
Firmness in platinum prices boosted cash gold <XAU=> by nearly 1 percent to
$908 an ounce, but the spot market was fairly thin as many Asian market
participants were away for the Lunar New Year holiday.
As of 0727 GMT, cash platinum <XPT=> was trading at a record high of
$1,820/1,827 an ounce, breaking through the previous all-time high of $1,819 hit
on Wednesday.
"Platinum is bullish as all focus is on supply worries in South Africa with
power cuts and floods and so on," said Shuji Sugata at Mitsubishi Corp Futures
and Securities in Tokyo.
"Concerns over supplies have been keeping lease rates at high levels and
providing overall support."
The white precious metal has been drawing huge fund inflows since the start
of the year, sending it up by nearly 20 percent.
South Africa's government appealed to mining companies for help in cutting
power consumption on Tuesday to ease a power crisis caused by the failure of
electricity generation to match economic growth. []
Japanese investors have been flocking into the market, although they were
careful about building up new buy positions.
The December platinum contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange <0#JPL:> was
up 153 yen, or 2.6 percent, at 5,984 yen a gram as of 0727 GMT.
Open interest in TOCOM platinum was at 71,599 contracts on Wednesday, down
about 26 percent from the start of the year.
Sharp volatility in TOCOM platinum and currencies have made investors
reluctant about taking new buy positions on rallies, traders said.
Firmness in platinum prices has pushed up its sister metal, palladium.
Palladium <XPD=> rose to $420/425 an ounce from $416/421 on Wednesday. It
had reached a six-year high of $426.50 on Tuesday.
Cash gold <XAU=> was trading at $907.80/908.70 an ounce, up from
$900.40/901.10 late in New York on Wednesday.
However, Sugata said gold appeared to be losing momentum and struggling to
rise strongly above $900.
"It's tough to take fresh positions as uncertainties in financial markets
are spreading with stock prices losing ground again. Also the market wants to
the see the outcome of the G7 meeting before taking new positions in gold."
The Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors are expected
to debate how recent market turmoil and a U.S. economic slowdown could affect
the world economy when they meet in Tokyo on Saturday.
COMEX gold futures extended gains in Asia after rising 1.7 percent in New
York on Wednesday. The April contract <GCJ8> was up $6.6 or 0.7 percent at
$911.6 from the New York settlement.
Precious metals prices at 0722 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 907.60 7.20 +0.80 8.99
Spot Silver 16.64 0.13 +0.79 12.66
Spot Platinum 1820.00 10.00 +0.55 19.74
Spot Palladium 421.00 5.00 +1.20 14.40
TOCOM Gold 3133.00 76.00 +2.49 2.39 64177
TOCOM Platinum 5978.00 147.00 +2.52 11.97 46328
TOCOM Silver 573.80 14.20 +2.54 6.06 758
TOCOM Palladium 1472.00 38.00 +2.65 8.96 1689
Euro/Dollar 1.4627
Dollar/Yen 106.53
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except for silver which is in yen
per 10 grams, spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo)
