Platinum may be poised for further outperformance: strategists
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Gold futures were little changed Friday, with traders taking their cue from a stable euro a day after tracking the shared currency’s losses, while strategists said platinum may be poised to further outperform the yellow metal.
Gold for April delivery GCJ3 -0.10% rose 40 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,671.70 an ounce in electronic trade. Gold fell $7.50 an ounce on Thursday, tracking the euro as it came under heavy pressure in the wake of remarks by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
The euro EURUSD -0.1232% steadied in Friday activity versus the greenback, while the dollar index DXY -0.21% drifted lower. The dollar saw pressure versus the yen, as the Japanese currency rebounded sharply in reaction to comments by the country’s finance minister. See: Japan finance minister triggers sharp yen rebound .
Thursday’s currency gyrations meant that while gold fell back in dollar terms, it rose in euros to a two-week high of almost €1,260 an ounce for a time, strategists at Commerzbank led by Eugen Weinberg wrote in a note.
They also seized on platinum’s ongoing strength relative to gold, which saw platinum futures hit their widest premium versus gold since August 2011. “Given the concerns about further production losses in South Africa, we expect platinum to continue its advance and maintain its lead over gold,” they said.
Strategists at Credit Suisse agreed.
“Technical momentum seems to have bottomed, but investment interest remains lackluster. We think the more cyclical platinum market has better prospects than gold,” they said in a note.
April platinum futures PLJ3 +0.26% fell $4.50 an ounce to $1,717.80.
In other metals, palladium futures PAH3 -0.78% fell $5.45 to $745 an ounce.
High-grade copper futures HGH3 +0.50% rose around 2 cents to $3.74 a pound.
William L. Watts is MarketWatch's European bureau chief, based in Frankfurt. Follow him on Twitter @wlwatts.
