Platinum touches new record price

The price of platinum rose above $2,000 per troy ounce in New York for the first time on Wednesday, briefly touching $2,001.40 per troy ounce before trading at $1,985 per troy ounce near the close of floor trade, a gain of $63.20 over Tuesday’s close.

Other precious metals prices were mixed as April gold fell $1.10 to $910 per troy ounce but March silver added 10 cents to $17.35 per troy ounce in New York.

Among base metals, May copper dropped 3 cents to $3.54 per pound in New York while three-month copper in London fell $118 to $7,770 per tonne in London amid continuing concerns that economic conditions will dampen the demand for the metal used in construction.

Crude oil prices gained Wednesday as investors continued to worry that Venezuela President Hugo Chavez might carry through with his threat to cut oil sales to the United States.

In afternoon trade, West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery had added 42 cents to $93.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nymex March gasoline was up 4 cents to $2.41 per gallon while March heating oil was 2 cents higher to $2.61 per gallon and March natural gas had gained 9 cents to $8.53 per million British thermal units.

The US Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories in the United States gained 1.1 million barrels to 301.1 million barrels in the week ending 8 February, less of a gain than expected, while gasoline stockpiles added 1.7 million barrels last week and distillates in storage dropped by 100,000 barrels.

Grains prices were mixed.

March corn on the Chicago Board of Trade was down less than a cent to $4.96 per bushel and March wheat dropped 7 cents to $10 per bushel but March soybeans added 8.5 cents to $13.47 per bushel.

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