South African Shooting Gives Platinum End-of-week Boost

In its weekly bulletin, Platinum Today reported that although platinum prices lacked momentum at the beginning of the week, the metal rose on Friday as the United States’ credit rating was downgraded and a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) official was shot in South Africa.

Today’s London base price for platinum is $1,445 per ounce.

As quoted in the market news:

On Thursday, the Chinese agency Dagong downgraded the US credit rating to A-, which prompted a weakening in the dollar and frenzied buying in gold as traders rushed to cover short positions and technical levels were taken out. Platinum reacted as would be expected, posting rapid gains. The China story continued with Q3 figures revealing that stronger exports and solid domestic demand helped the Chinese economy expand at a rate of 7.8% YoY, up from a Q2 figure of 7.5%. Platinum advanced sharply, with any temptation to take profits tempered perhaps by news of an NUM official being shot near Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine.

Click here to read the full Platinum Today report.