Platinum bounces off 2-week high on firm dollar

Platinum prices shed nearly 1% during the Asian session on Friday, to continue bouncing off the highest since Nov.7 for the second straight session, but still heading for the second weekly gain, while the US dollar rebounded from its lowest since Nov.5, ahead of the release of several US economic data later today.  

Platinum prices fell by 0.73% to $908.73 an ounce as of 05:07 GMT, after opening at $915.41, while the US dollar index rose by 0.02% to 97.95 after it opened at 97.93. 

Investors are anticipating the release of the US manufacturing and services PMI readings, with forecasts for the preliminary reading of the manufacturing PMI to show expansion to 51.5 vs. 51.3 in October, and the services PMI is expected to expand to 51.2 vs. 50.6 in October.

This coupled with the release of University of Michigan's consumer confidence reading, with forecasts for an expansion to 95.8 from 95.7 in the preliminary reading and 95.5 in October, this comes after the Federal Reserve revealed the minutes of its recent meeting at October 29-30, which saw the third interest rate cut this year, by 25 basis points to between 1.50% and 1.75%.

Otherwise, news reports showed yesterday that the Trump administration will conduct a trade investigation to justify tariffs on EU products that may lead to new tariffs on EU cars, keeping in mind that several news agencies reported that president Trump may delay the tariffs on European cars ahead of the deadline.

Platinum is one of the most rare metals on Earth (30 times more rare than gold), which is mainly used in catalytic converters that reduces toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from cars. Platinum ended its longest daily gains streak since the beginning of 2018, in its first drop in 7 sessions which reflects its bounce from a 3-month low as markets parse the impact of the recent developments on the odds of resolving the US-China trade war.

The South China Morning Post on Thursday reported that the Chinese Vice Premier Liu He invited the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to continue the trade talks this month in Beijing, and reported that the US is going to hold Chinese tariffs scheduled in mid-December even if no agreement is reached.