Spot platinum on Monday touched $1 000 an ounce for the first time since March 1980 on renewed fund-buying of the metal.
At 1.30pm, platinum was quoted at $998/oz, up $11/oz from the metal’s previous close.
A break through the $1 000/oz level for platinum should open up a move to $1 040/oz followed by $1 090/oz, technical analysts for JP Morgan wrote.
Platinum is mainly used to make auto catalysts and jewellery.
In mid-November, Johnson Matthey predicted that the price of platinum could reach $1 030 during the next six months.
The all-time high for platinum of about $1 040/oz was achieved in March 1980.
It is unlikely that platinum will fall below $890/oz unless demand from jewellery manufacturers contracts more substantially than current trends suggest, Johnson Matthey added.
Johnson Matthey forecasts that the global platinum market will remain in deficit in 2005 for the seventh year in a row. — I-Net Bridge