COMMODITIES : Platinum Higher on Rumors of Japanese Buying

Platinum futures prices soared Wednesday for the second consecutive session on the New York Mercantile Exchange on rumors of increased Japanese buying and an improving economic outlook.

On other markets, copper and precious metals futures advanced; energy futures were higher; livestock and meat prices retreated; grains and soybeans were mixed, and stock index futures fell.

Platinum settled $12.10 an ounce to $13.80 higher on the Nymex, with the contract for delivery in April at $532.50 an ounce.

Platinum prices have gained about $75 an ounce in the past two months as economic data have increasingly dispelled fears of a recession and pointed toward higher inflation.

Gold prices have also advanced on inflation concerns, but platinum has an edge because of its strong industrial-use component, analysts said.

Although there was no fresh positive economic news Wednesday, rumors that Japanese firms planned to increase their purchases of platinum gave the market a boost, said Stephen W. Platt, an analyst in Chicago with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.

On the Comex, gold settled $1.50 to $2.20 higher, with April at $457.80 an ounce; silver was 4.7 cents to 5.5 cents higher, with April at $6.757 an ounce.

Unleaded gasoline led energy futures prices higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The buying stemmed from a strong increase in demand reflected by Tuesday’s weekly American Petroleum Institute report showing a 4.22-million-barrel drawdown in gasoline stocks to 230 million barrels.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled 1 cent to 11 cents higher, with May at $17.08 a barrel; heating oil was 0.32 cent to 0.45 cent higher, with April at 48.60 cents a gallon, and unleaded gasoline was 0.11 cent to .53 cent higher, with April at 48.65 cents a gallon.

Pork futures prices fell as traders squared their positions ahead of this afternoon’s 10-state hog and pig report from the Agriculture Department, he said.

Live cattle were 0.05 cent to 0.62 cent lower, with April at 75 cents a pound; feeder cattle were 0.07 cent to 0.78 cent lower, with March at 82.75 cents a pound; hogs were 0.58 cent lower to 0.07 cent higher, with April at 45.35 cents a pound, and frozen pork bellies were unchanged to 0.28 cent lower, with May at 55.90 cents a pound.

Wheat settled slightly higher on the Chicago Board of Trade, and corn and soybean prices retreated in light trading.

Wheat settled 0.50 cent to 1.25 cents higher, with May at $3.0225 a bushel.