ETF Securities has announced that an initial buyer has been found for its planned first-ever US platinum exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Lead market-maker Susquehanna Capital Group has purchased 100,000 shares in the product, with a filing confirming that the delivery will be made on 8th January.

In addition, the company has snapped up the same number of shares in the company's US palladium ETF.

The news comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced last month that it had rubber-stamped the listing and trading of the platinum and palladium funds.

Both metals reached their highest prices for over a year in Europe yesterday (5th January) and interest in the new US ETFs is expected to sustain this momentum in the near term.

"This is all investor money. There is no industrial demand, but with the new US ETFs, [the rally)] could last a couple of months," one European trader told Reuters.

The latest figures indicate that major platinum ETFs attracted $452 million in new investment over the course of 2009, with their holdings increasing by about $448 million.

Similarly, palladium funds saw $181 million in new inflows, while the amount of metal backing them rose by $177 million to hit $456 million by the end of the year.

ETF Securities is a London-based firm which launched the world's first-ever ETF in 2003 in partnership with marketing body the World Gold Council.

Sources:

Gold ETFs attract $17 billion in 2009 (31/12/09)

UPDATE 2-Platinum, palladium prices hit highest in over a year (05/01/10)

ETF Securities reports first US platinum buyer (04/01/09)

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