Platinum settles higher, dollar gains ground

Platinum prices tilted higher in American trade to December 13 highs on track for the third weekly profit in a row, as the dollar index gained ground, following earlier data from the US today. 

As of 02:31 GMT, platinum futures rose 0.25% to $799.23 an ounce, marking three-week highs, while the dollar index added 0.30% to 96.56. 

Earlier US data showed the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in December from 3.7% in November, which was the lowest since 1969, while analysts expected no change. 

US average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in December, beating estimates of 0.3% and up from 0.2% in November. 

The US economy added 312 thousand new jobs in December, the fastest such pace since February 2018, and beating estimates of 179K, and compared to November's 176K, revised from 155K. 

 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to participate in a panel discussion titled "Federal Reserve chairs: Joint Interview" at the American Economic Association's Annual Meeting, in Atlanta, while Congress introduced bills to end the partial government shutdown starting two weeks ago, in order to fund several federal agencies until February 8.