Platinum Group Metals Price Bulletin - 18th January 2010 to 22nd January 2010

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

	Pt	Pd	Rh
Monday 18th January	1623	460	2775
Tuesday 19th January	1645	463	2775
Wednesday 20th January	1635	460	2775
Thursday 21st January	1633	472	2775
Friday 22nd January	1570	445	2675

Concerns that China’s economy may be in danger of overheating and the government may begin to tighten lending practices, improved dollar sentiment. This in turn had gold under pressure for most of the week and this increased as President Obama announced plans to limit bank trading activities, particularly proprietary trading practices. Platinum and palladium prices, which until then had bucked the trend lower as the new US ETFs drew down liquidity, dropped suddenly as the whole precious metals complex buckled under the pressure.

Platinum

As speculation of increasing vehicle sales in China for 2010 grew, buying interest from the investment sector continued to drive prices higher in volatile conditions. The U.S. platinum ETF position stood at 145K oz midweek, effectively wiping out last year’s estimated surplus. 

Palladium

The U.S. palladium ETF has mopped up 100K oz so far and palladium continued to build on the solid gains achieved this month. This had seen prices improve nearly 30% before the late week losses.   

Rhodium

Steady for much of the week, rhodium also felt the burn on Friday and traded lower.

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