Platinum Futures in Tokyo Gain as Traders Withdraw Bets on Drop

By Dave McCombs

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Platinum futures in Tokyo advanced, after plunging the daily limit on the previous trading day, as some traders closed positions in contracts betting on further declines in the metal.

The most-active contract may still decline after Japanese carmakers release monthly sales figures today. Automakers are the biggest users of platinum, which they use in emissions filters.

``The market will reverse this afternoon, pushing platinum down after Japanese car companies report bad sales,'' Kazuhiko Saito, a strategist at Interes Capital Management, said in Tokyo today by phone. ``The only buyers today are short-coverers.''

Platinum for October delivery gained 5.7 percent to 2,590 yen a gram ($814 an ounce) at the 11 a.m. break on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Only 6,361 contracts had traded, compared with the full-day average of 17,798 for the past 15 days.

Metal for immediate delivery declined as much as $3.50 to $816.50 an ounce, a 0.4 percent drop from yesterday in New York. It traded at $819.50 an ounce at 11:21 a.m. in Tokyo.

Industrywide U.S. auto sales dropped for the 12th straight month in October, extending the longest slide in 17 years. Tight credit, falling consumer confidence and a weak economy, the same forces that suppressed buying in September, hurt automakers gain this month. Sales plummeted 32 percent in October to the lowest monthly total since January 1991.

To contact the reporter for this story: Dave McCombs in Tokyo at dmccombs@bloomberg.net