US MIDDAY: platinum spikes to new 26-year high

New York platinum futures stormed to a new 26-year high early on Thursday on a third day of speculative and trade buying while palladium hit a 17-month peak and gold and silver reached 10-day highs.
Dealers said the broad rally in the precious metals was fuelled by buying in Asia this week, which spilled over to European and New York sessions, amid expectations that growing commercial demand for platinum group metals would keep prices climbing.
"It's been TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) buying that's been fuelling the market," said a precious metals trader in New York. "The funds and the general public have been very active in platinum the last two nights, but it's quieter in New York at the open as CTA (Commodity Trading Advisor) buying kind of stalls out here.
"But it feels like in the medium term, platinum's going to hit $1,000, or at least try up there, because technically it looks pretty good," he added. January delivery platinum at the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $7.80, or 0.82 percent, to $964 an ounce by 10:26 am EST. Benchmark futures had not seen such a peak since they were falling from above $1,000 in 1979.
George Gero, a senior vice president at Legg Mason Wood Walker, said consumer stockpiling of platinum and palladium for use in catalytic converters also supported prices.
Spot platinum climbed to $958/962 an ounce from its previous close in New York at $950/953. December palladium rose a sharper 2.25 percent in early trade, up $5.35 at $244 an ounce, with the morning peak of $246.90 its loftiest since June 2004. Spot palladium was quoted at $241/244, up from $233/237 late Wednesday.
In gold, benchmark December delivery futures rose 80 cents to $468.30 an ounce at NYMEX's COMEX division, in a range of $466.50 to $470.90, which was its highest since October 31.
Gold rose despite the dollar's rally against the euro, with the greenback withstanding a brief sell-off after the US trade deficit surged in September. At midmorning, the euro was back near its level from before the report at $1.1765.
Spot gold was quoted at $467.60/468.40, up from its last close at $461.70/462.50. The late fix by bullion dealers in London on Thursday was at $467. December silver climbed 8.2 cents to $7.76 an ounce, trading from $7.67 to $7.79, which, like gold, was its highest since Halloween. Spot fetched $7.72/74, up from $7.65/67 late Wednesday. It fixed at $7.74.