By Dave McCombs Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Platinum futures in Tokyo rebounded from a 3 1/2-year low as crude oil prices advanced, encouraging investors to buy commodities including precious metals. The metal recouped a part of last week's 13.5 percent slump on speculation the OPEC will lower crude output in an attempt to halt a slide in prices, which have fallen more than 50 percent from July's record. ``Expectations that OPEC will cut output are pushing up oil, which is a supportive factor for the platinum market,'' Kazuhiko Saito, a commodity strategist at Interes Capital Management, said today in Tokyo by telephone. Platinum for August delivery climbed 4.8 percent to 2,929 yen a gram ($896 an ounce) at 12:30 p.m. on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. It slumped on Oct. 17 to 2,793 yen a gram, the lowest for a most-active contract since Feb. 16, 2005. Metal for immediate delivery fell $4.50 to $861.50 an ounce at 12:30 p.m. in Tokyo, a 0.5 percent drop from New York Oct. 17. Crude oil for November delivery rose as much as 1.9 percent, to $73.19 a barrel in electronic trading in New York. It was at $73.01 at 12:25 p.m. Tokyo time. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries brought forward to Oct. 24 a meeting planned for November to discuss production levels. Members of the group will meet in Vienna. OPEC favors a cut in output and may pare output in stages to maintain stable prices as global growth weakens, Chakib Khelil, the group's president said in an interview on Algerian television yesterday. To contact the reporter for this story: Dave McCombs in Tokyo at dmccombs@bloomberg.net

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