Tokyo platinum hit by profit-taking

14 Apr, 2004

Tokyo platinum futures ran out of steam on Tuesday after meeting heavy profit-taking near session highs as the yen's renewed upward trend gathered momentum and made fund operators nervous about going too long.
The benchmark February platinum contract hit a one-month high of 3,072 yen per gram reflecting strength in the dollar-based price, which touched a fresh 24-year high on Monday.
But platinum faced constant profit-taking given the yen's upturned and as other precious metals traded on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) came under strong selling pressure.
The key platinum futures contract ended down three-yen per gram at 3,029 yen.
The Japanese currency was quoted at 105.55/63 per dollar after rising as high as 105.06. It was around 105.50 in late New York trade.
The yen's strength has dragged down prices of other precious metals, traders said.
Tokyo gold fell across the board, with the key February contract closing near a session low of 1,422 yen. It closed at 1,440 yen on Monday.
Other gold contracts fell 16 to 18 yen. Spot gold was quoted at $418.25/$419.00 an ounce against $419.50/420.00 last quoted in New York.
Traders remained nervous about going short of gold given lingering geopolitical concerns, but the market also lacked fresh buying incentives to lift the yellow metal.
TOCOM silver dropped by the daily 8.0-yen limit across the board, except for the prompt April contract, which fell 6.5 yen per 10 grams.
Yen-based silver futures were driven down by the spot price's fall below $8 per ounce.
February silver dropped to 267.9 yen. Silver was quoted at $7.88/$7.90 an ounce compared with $8.00/$8.02 in New York.

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