COMMODITIES : Concerns About Supplies Give Platinum Futures Push

Platinum futures prices surged $7 an ounce Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the economic outlook continued to brighten and racial unrest in South Africa prompted fears of supply disruptions, analysts said.

On other exchanges, gold futures retreated while silver advanced; energy futures were mixed; grains and soybeans were mixed; livestock and meat were mostly lower, and stock index futures advanced.

Platinum prices have been gradually re-establishing their traditional dominance over gold after falling to an even par with gold late last year, when recession fears were widespread.

Although it is considered a precious metal, platinum is also an industrial base metal and is more widely used by industry than gold.

“In a healthy economy, platinum is likely to do better than gold,” said Craig Sloane, an analyst in New York with Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. “The economic activity we’ve seen in the last couple of months is very positive for platinum.”

Tuesday’s government report showing a 0.9% increase in February in the index of leading economic indicators further dispelled fears that the October stock market collapse was a harbinger of recession, Sloane said.

Most platinum comes from South Africa, and a recent upswing in violence there sparked fears of supply problems that helped support platinum prices, said Peter Cardillo, commodity futures trading adviser for Josephthal & Co. in New York.

Platinum settled $7 to $8.30 higher with the contract for delivery in April at $518.70 an ounce.

Tuesday’s economic data had little effect on gold and silver futures prices, which registered only slight moves on New York’s Commodity Exchange.

Gold settled 30 cents to 60 cents lower, with April at $455.60; silver was 3 cents to 4 cents higher, with March at $6.705 an ounce.

Indications of continued overproduction by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries sent crude oil futures prices sliding lower in light trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, said Michael Rothman, senior energy strategist for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets.

In addition, the market was skeptical that an OPEC meeting next month will produce support for a production cut, Rothman said.

Heating oil futures prices also declined while unleaded gasoline gained a bit.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled 12 cents lower across the board, with May at at $16.98 a barrel; heating oil was 0.02 cent to 0.40 cent lower, with April at 48.15 cents a gallon, and unleaded gasoline was 0.10 cent lower to 0.24 cent higher, with April at 48.26 cents a gallon.

Soybean futures settled lower on the Chicago Board of Trade, but the grains finished nearly unchanged.

The decline in soybean prices was mostly because of profit taking after Monday’s sharp advances, said Victor Lespinasse, a trader for Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.

Contracts for May and July delivery of corn advanced slightly in reaction to news that the government had granted one-year extensions on certain corn loans taken out in 1984, 1985 and 1986.

The extensions mean farmers can delay decisions about marketing hundreds of millions of bushels of corn that might otherwise have gone onto the market this year.

Wheat settled 0.50 cent lower to 1.50 cents higher, with May at $3.01 a bushel; corn was 1 cent lower to 1 cent higher, with May at $2.115 a bushel; oats were 1 cent to 3 cents lower, with May at $1.6375 a bushel, and soybeans were 4.25 cents to 7.50 cents lower, with May at $6.5025 a bushel.