Zuercher Kantonalbank to Launch Platinum-Based ETF (Update1)
By Jae Hur and Claudia Carpenter
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Zuercher Kantonalbank, the biggest of Switzerland's 24 government-controlled cantonal lenders, will launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for three precious metals, including platinum, after it launched a gold ETF early last year.
The bank plans to list the new ETFs, based on silver, platinum and palladium, on the SWX Swiss Exchange and trading is scheduled to start on May 10, the bank said in a press release on April 13. The new investment products are designed for wealthy private clients and institutional investors, it said.
Prices of platinum, used in auto catalysts and jewelry, reached a record $1,402.50 on Nov. 21 on talk of a new exchange- traded fund. Gold ETFs already trade in countries including Australia, Britain, South Africa, the U.S., Singapore and India. The so-called ETFs purchase and store metal, allowing investors to trade assets without owning them.
``It's the first that I'm aware of'' for platinum, said Mark Bedford, director of precious metals marketing at Johnson Matthey Plc in Royston, U.K.
Platinum for immediate delivery rose as much as $15.50, or 1.2 percent, to trade at $1,286.5 an ounce, the highest since Nov. 21, and traded at $1,281.50 at 3:28 p.m. Singapore time.
In Japan, platinum for delivery in February 2008 rose as much as 98 yen, or 2.1 percent, to 4,864 yen a gram ($1,267 an ounce) and closed at 4,828 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the world's largest futures market for platinum and palladium. The maximum daily price fluctuation limit for platinum is 100 yen.
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