Tokyo platinum marks eight-week high

Tokyo platinum futures rose briskly on Monday to mark an eight-week high on the back of strong gains in overseas futures markets and firm spot prices.
TOCOM gold inched up, but trading volume was low, as the market was in a wait-and-see mood ahead of Friday's closely watched US non-farm payrolls report for July.
Benchmark June 2005 platinum closed up 31 yen at 2,838 yen per gram, after moving between 2,824 yen to 2,856 yen, the highest level since the benchmark contract marked 2,869 yen on June 8.
Other contracts rose by 14 to 31 yen. In the spot market, platinum was at $822.50/827.50 an ounce, up from $817.50/822.50.
"I think trade this week might be range-bound with many players reluctant to trade actively ahead of the payrolls data," one analyst said.
In the gold market, benchmark June 2005 gold finished at 1,408 yen, up seven yen, after wavering narrowly between 1,405 and 1,410 yen. Other contracts climbed by three to seven yen.
Spot dollar-based gold was at $392.70/3.20 compared with $391.00/391.50 last quoted in New York.
The analyst said the near-term bottom for gold was believed to be 1,380 yen, and buying was likely to emerge and support prices at that level.
All TOCOM silver contracts finished up at the trading limit of seven yen per 10 grams with the exception of the near-term August contract, following silver's climb in New York on Friday.
The dollar eased a touch against other major currencies on Monday following a warning that al Qaeda may attack the buildings of key financial institutions including the New York Stock Exchange.
The "high" level threat alert, declared on Sunday, weighed on the dollar, which was already under pressure after data on Friday showed US second-quarter gross domestic product expanded at a 3.0 percent pace below forecast growth of 3.6 percent.
The dollar was fetching 111.17/22 yen, against late US trade on Friday of 111.35 yen. On Monday's level compares with 111.83/86 yen at about the same time on Friday.
Below are closing prices for TOCOM's most active precious metals contracts, with the day's turnover for each metal.