Platinum rose early on Monday after mostly upbeat US data signalled the economic recovery is gaining traction, with a soft earnings update from the world's biggest platinum miner and strong monthly US car sales reports adding to support.
Palladium hit its highest in 17 months and platinum a four-month peak at $1,705.25. Gold steadied as traders repositioned investments after a broadly positive run of US data, while a dip in stock markets and a stronger dollar added pressure. Spot platinum was up 0.8 percent at $1,694.24 an ounce at 1525 GMT, while spot palladium was down 0.6 percent at $749.97 an ounce, having earlier hit a high of $759.75. Spot gold was unchanged at $1,666.84 an ounce.
"Futures and options investors are on the retreat, pulling money from the gold market and putting it in more cyclical markets (like platinum and palladium) which benefit from the stabilisation of growth," Tobias Merath, global head of commodity research at Credit Suisse, said. The latest Commitments of Traders data for the week to January 29 showed a 2.89 million ounces decrease in net long speculative positions in gold to 16.7 million ounces from the previous week.
Speculators boosted both platinum and palladium's net length, essentially bullish bets, to record highs. Gold players were seen reassessing their positions after last week's mixed US economic data failed to provide a clear direction for the market, analysts said.
"Gold is without structural support at the moment, but given speculative positioning remains relatively light, weaker-than-expected macro data could quickly spur prices higher amid global balance sheet expansion," Barclays Capital said in a note. Platinum group metals posted strong gains after US automakers reported a 14.2 percent sales increase in January from a year earlier, with a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of sales reaching 15.29 million vehicles.
The metals are widely used in auto catalysts to clean up exhaust emissions. Momentum picked up when major producer Amplats revealed a significant full-year loss on Monday. The company has cut its output target to 2.1-2.3 million ounces a year and has slashed capital expenditure by 11 billion rand ($1.2 billion). It plans to cut capex by 25 percent over the next decade to 100 billion rand.
Platinum has outperformed the rest of the complex with a nearly 11 percent gain so far this year, followed by a 9 percent rise in palladium. Gold is down 0.3 percent - the only precious metal in the red after a 12-year winning streak. Silver fell 0.6 percent to $31.62 an ounce.
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