Platinum market recovers, palladium prices stabilise

摘要

AFTER falling to 405 dollars/oz late last week, platinum managed to recover and was trading within a narrow range of 409-410 dollars/oz on December 19. "The market has seen some good recovery this week, although I am not very optimistic short term," commented a European dealer. Indeed, the platinum market has been rather disappointing this month with the metal seeing significant speculative selling following a change in sentiment within the market. At the beginning of December, platinum was trading around 413-414 dollars/oz, although prices fell sharply by 6 dollars/oz two weeks later. "Platinum had hardly moved outside a range of 414-415 dollars/oz for some time which caused frustration in the market,'' said a trader. As platinum supply is currently plentiful, prices are expected to remain around this level until the end of the year. Furthermore, owing to sufficient supplies, one month lease rates have fallen from 6-6.5 percent to 4 percent, while platinum sponge is in backwardation.