platinum refuses to lie down ., page-7

PGMs rally to 2-year highs; gold firms

By: Reuters
21st April 2010
Updated 2 hours 8 minutes ago

LONDON - Platinum group metals (PGM) rallied to their highest in about two years on Wednesday on the back of a strong demand outlook from investors and the auto industry, while gold edged higher as risk-appetite improved.

Upbeat results from US companies such as IBM and Apple
lifted sentiment in global markets, which had turned sour earlier this week after fraud charges against Goldman Sachs, a major commodities trader.

"The underlying fundamentals of platinum and palladium are significantly better than gold in our view," said analyst Daniel Major at RBS.

"You've got the supply side constrained....and much more positive outlook for demand," he said.

Spot platinum rose to $1 737,50/oz, its highest since August 2008 and was at $1 732,50/oz by 10:17 GMT, versus $1 714/oz late in New York on Tuesday. Sister metal palladium hit a two-year high at $563/oz, and was last at $560,50/oz versus $549/oz on Tuesday.

Palladium and platinum, both used to clean auto emissions and in jewellery, have been in favour as they are considered to be more sensitive than gold to economic recovery. They have risen by 39 and 18,5% respectively so far this year, compared with gold's 4,4%.

Chinese car sales have been strong so far this year, growing by almost two-thirds last month as buoyant consumer sentiment lifted spending, while other leading car markets, notably the United States, are also recovering from last year's slump.

The launch of new investment products, such as the exchange traded funds (ETF) in the United States, in January, has also been a major driver behind the price for PGMs.

Link:
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/pgms-rally-to-2-year-highs-gold-firms-2010-04-21