Singapore: Gold steadied above $730 (Dh2,681.22) an ounce on Tuesday as oil regained some footing, while recent gains in the yen against the dollar spurred buying in platinum ahead of the release of a supply and demand report by refiner Johnson Matthey. Speculators in Japan pushed up platinum to a one-week high of $860 an ounce on Monday on expectations Johnson Matthey would release another market-friendly report despite poor car sales, which threatened to slash demand for autocatalysts. US automakers have been hit by a collapse in consumer spending, and fears of a global financial crisis mounted as Japan's economy minister warned of a prolonged recession while Citigroup said it was cutting 52,000 jobs. Platinum was trading at $816.00 an ounce, up $8.50, with dealers reporting bargain buying by speculators in Japan. "I guess the buying is mostly driven by the strengthening of the yen and not by physical demand. The biggest users of platinum are the automakers and there's not much demand. The financial crisis carries on," said a dealer in Hong Kong. Platinum spiked to a record of $2,290 an ounce in March after a power shortage in main producer South Africa disrupted mining but the price has since fallen sharply to track declines in gold, and recently due to turmoil in the auto industry. More than 60 per cent of platinum use goes to autocatalysts to clean exhaust fumes. "I think the auto sector will definitely be a major factor here and talk is now on the large automakers such as General Motors, Chrysler, etc, and how they are going to get help from the governments to ride out the financial crisis," said Adrian Koh, analyst Phillip Futures.

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