By Nicholas Larkin
Bloomberg
Platinum reached an almost 10-month high on signs increased demand from car companies will add to a supply shortage. Gold held near the highest in three months.
Investor holdings in platinum- and palladium-backed funds are at or near records as demand from automakers and a South African mining strike that lasted five months leads to a third successive supply deficit. U.S. auto sales adjusting for seasonal trends accelerated to an annualized pace of 16.98 million in June, the fastest in almost eight years, researcher Autodata Corp. said yesterday.
About 220,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa stopped work yesterday to support their request for pay increases. The protests come after a platinum strike that lasted from January to June. The country is the largest producer of the metal, which is mainly used alongside palladium in car pollution-control devices.