LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) – Platinum futures traded
at a modest premium to gold for the first time since September
on Monday, swept higher by a rally that has added 5 percent to
the platinum price in the last week.
Most-active April platinum futures rose by 0.9
percent on the day to $1,699.00 an ounce by 1600 GMT, pushing
their discount to gold to $1.00 an ounce.
The spread briefly touched a premium of $2.00, the first
time platinum has traded above the most-active gold futures
contract since last September
Supply disruptions due to an illegal strike at the largest
mine in top supplier South Africa, Impala Platinum’s
Rustenburg facility, have removed nearly 200,000 ounces of metal
from the market, prompting investors to take a more upbeat view
of the outlook for the platinum price this year.
(Reporting by Amanda Cooper, editing by Jane Baird)
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