Platinum Group Metals Price Bulletin - 14th December 2009 to 18th December 2009

Johnson Matthey London Base Prices at 0800 hrs, $/oz:

	Pt	Pd	Rh
Monday 14th December	1434	368	2175
Tuesday 15th December	1446	366	2175
Wednesday 16th December	1446	365	2300
Thursday 17th December	1445	374	2225
Friday 18th December	1433	365	2450

This will be the last weekly price bulletin of 2009 so may we take this opportunity to wish all our readers a relaxing festive season and a happy and prosperous 2010.

A strengthening dollar and profit taking, ahead of year-end, had gold under pressure for most of the week. A brief retreat by investors back into the yellow safe haven followed the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates at zero, appended with cautious statements on the speed of the recovery. Global debt problems, centered in Greece, have awoken the dollar bulls, however, and gold slipped below the $1,100 mark by the week’s end.

Platinum

JM’s London Base Prices masked underlying volatility in the other regions. Although platinum initially rebounded from a tough late session last Friday, like gold, the week saw the white metal come under increasing pressure from dollar strength. Intra day lows triggered bargain hunting, however, and this provided support until Friday when platinum’s resistance finally crumbled.

Palladium

Holding relatively steady throughout most of the week, palladium briefly popped  higher against the general trend, possibly on the back of one market commentator raising their price forecast and commenting on the impact of shrinking Russian state stocks on the supply demand deficit/surplus. If so it was quickly discounted as palladium also succumbed to holiday profit taking the following day.

Rhodium

Initially holding steady, rhodium ticked steadily higher in the second half of the week.

Johnson Matthey,
Orchard Road,
Royston,
Hertfordshire SG8 5HE,
United Kingdom