Here's part of the fuel:
LONDON (Feb 15) Gold advanced in London on prospects interest-rate cuts in the U.S. will spur demand for the metal as an alternative to the dollar. Platinum rose to a record.
The U.S. currency erased gains for the year yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled the bank may reduce interest rates further. Assets in the StreetTracks Gold Trust, the biggest fund backed by gold, have dropped 3.4 percent from a record on Jan. 14, partly on speculation the dollar would rebound this year from earlier declines.
``Gold likes lower interest rates,'' said Jack Allen, head gold trader at Natixis Commodity Markets in London.
Gold for immediate delivery rose $4.20, or 0.5 percent, to $912.40 an ounce as of 9:49 a.m. in London. The record was $936.92 on Feb. 1. Prices have dropped 1.2 percent this week. New York gold futures gained $4.50 to $915.30 an ounce.
Platinum climbed to a record in London after Anglo Platinum Ltd. said it shut its Polokwane smelter in South Africa for repairs that may take four to six weeks. The company maintained its 2008 production forecast of 2.4 million ounces as metal can be processed through other plants that are operating below capacity, the company said.
Platinum rose $14 to $2,025 in London after touching a record $2,029. In Tokyo, the metal for December delivery rose 240 yen, or 3.7 percent, to close at a record 6,705 yen a gram ($1,926 an ounce) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
Platinum Supplies
World platinum supplies may fall 400,000 ounces short of demand this year on South African mining disruptions, Standard Bank Group Ltd. said on Feb. 12. The wider deficit from 265,000 ounces last year will help to support prices at an average $1,900 this year, Standard Bank analysts including Johannesburg-based Walter de Wet wrote. That's up from $1,690 to date.
``The focus is obviously still on South Africa,'' Allen said, adding the gain may buoy gold as ``it's all related.''
Gold may climb to $1,000 by the end of March, said Robin Wilkin, London-based head of commodities and currency technical analysis at JPMorgan Chase & Co. ``It's hard to get overly bearish in gold because of the dollar.''
Platinum in the ``very near term'' may rise to $2,050 where it would meet ``channel resistance,'' Wilkin said. ``More important support runs from $1,980 to $1,935 and any pullback to there should be used as a buying opportunity.''
