COMMODITIES : Platinum, Other Metals Decline in Thin Trading

Platinum futures prices fell more than $20 an ounce Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but analysts said the plunge was due more to thin trading conditions than to bearish supply-and-demand developments.

Futures prices of other precious metals also declined.

On other markets, coffee futures rebounded from Tuesday’s steep losses, grains, soybeans and energy futures were mostly lower, livestock and meat futures were mixed, and stock index futures advanced.

Platinum settled $19.90 to $22.40 lower, with the contract for delivery in January at $510.50 an ounce.

Platinum futures had been mostly on the rise since Dec. 19, the last day of a three-day collapse sparked by Ford Motor Co.’s announcement of a platinum-free catalytic converter. The use of platinum in the automobile pollution-control devices accounts for about a third of world platinum consumption.

‘Fragile Recovery’

The Ford announcement continues to overhang the market and Wednesday’s strength in the dollar was a bearish signal for all the precious metals, some analysts said.

But they agreed that platinum’s losses Wednesday were exaggerated by thin, holiday market conditions--a simple lack of enough traders to provide much resistance to sharp price swings.

“Trading was very light across the board and it was particularly light in platinum, as is usually the case,” said Bette Raptopoulos, an analyst with Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. in New York.

Confidence appeared to have been building in the platinum market following assurances from platinum producers that Ford’s new converter would not significantly reduce demand for the metal for several years.

On New York’s Commodity Exchange, gold settled $4.10 to $4.80 lower, with February at $416.60 an ounce; silver was 6.1 to 6.8 cents lower, with March at $6.188 an ounce.

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