Platinum hit a record high of $1,409 per ounce in London today, as gold prices hovered near a 28-year peak, Reuters reported.
Platinum prices soared in part due to issues over supply. Anglo Platinum, the world's biggest platinum producer, was affected by power outages in South Africa, the firm told the news source. Dealers, however, said it might be difficult to sustain the high price, expecting it to pull back to around $1,375 per ounce.
Platinum also got a boost from a surge in gold prices on Thursday due in part to the weakening U.S. dollar and firm oil prices.
Gold's spot price in London stood at $747.10-$747.90 per troy ounce compared with $750.40-$751.20 in New York on Thursday, when it rose as high as $753.60, its highest since January 1980, according to Reuters.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley stated its 2008 gold-price forecast at $800 per ounce, anticipating that strong global growth and spreading inflation problems would benefit the metal.
The bank told Reuters that growth in gold demand, particularly from an expanding middle class in the developing world, would continue to drive gold prices, despite inflation and dollar concerns temporarily taking the spotlight.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley said it was leaving its previous forecast for 2007 gold prices intact at $680 per ounce, but lowered its silver price to $13.30 per ounce from $13.80 per ounce, and placed the 2008 forecast at $15 per ounce.
"Silver prices have been weighed down by economic uncertainty...specifically, silver's exposure to industrial demand has made prices vulnerable to general economic growth concerns stemming largely from fears concerning a U.S. growth slowdown," the bank said.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork
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