Market commentary/Platinum group metals - Pt and Pd continue to contrast

摘要

The platinum price continued to climb during the first half of November, with Johnson Matthey's positive outlook providing further support for the metal. Short covering took the price to an 18-month high of 604 dollars/oz, but it failed to hold above 600 dollars/oz and subsequently fell back on profit taking and long liquidation. Long liquidation continued during the final week of last month and the price has stabilised in early December around 590 dollars/oz. Technically, there is good support at 575 dollars/oz, and the price may well move above 600 dollars/oz over the next few weeks. Palladium, on the other hand, continued to slide during last month, ending November 47 dollars/oz down. The metal started the month trading at around 320 dollar/oz and showed a brief recovery on news that Norilsk may be reducing production by up to 15 percent. The price then slid to a four year low following the mid month release of the Johnson Matthey interim report with its bearish picture of demand for this year. The market remains oversupplied with stocks mounting in Russia due to Norilsk's absence from the spot market for over a year. Further selling in early December pushed the price down to 251 dollars/oz, its lowest since march 1998. Technically, as well as fundamentally, there is little to support the price, which has already gone through several potential support levels.