PRECIOUS-Platinum down 1.2 pct as Amplats delays job cuts
* Technical pressure adds to platinum selling below $1,700
* Gold cautious ahead of FOMC meeting, ignores central bank news
* Russia, Turkey sharply added gold reserves in December
* Coming up: U.S. consumer confidence Tuesday
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Platinum posted its biggest one-day drop in over a month on Monday, as news the world's largest platinum producer Anglo American Platinum agreed to postpone massive job cuts eased supply fears. Gold also edged down on selling related to option expirations and as investors took to the sidelines ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting and the all-important U.S. nonfarm payrolls data later in the week. Platinum fell 1.2 percent after South Africa, Amplats and labor unions agreed to postpone restructuring that could lead to 14,000 job cuts to allow for more talks.
"Since we've failed so many times above $1,700, there are quite a number of eager sellers at this level. Any type of fundamental support such as the Amplats news could easily put more fuel into the fire," said Sean McGillivray, head of asset allocation at Great Pacific Wealth Management. Platinum group metals initially rose after an encouraging U.S. durable goods report also boosted buying of the autocatalyst metal. Spot platinum was down 1.2 percent at $1,661 an ounce since Jan. 16. U.S. NYMEX platinum futures for April delivery settled down $32.70 at $1,662.20 an ounce, with trading volume about 20 percent above its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Technical selling also weighed on platinum as the metal has not ended above $1,700 since early October. Despite Monday's decline, platinum has still climbed 10 percent since the end of December due to worries about a widening market deficit after late last year's deadly South African mine labor violence and Amplats' job cuts. South Africa accounts for around 80 percent of the world's platinum reserves. Increasingly bullish bets by hedge funds and money managers also triggered Monday's pullback. Speculative net longs in platinum and palladium contracts both rose to all-time highs in the week ended Jan. 22, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed. Palladium eased 0.2 percent to $736.22 an ounce.
RUSSIA, TURKEY ADDED GOLD IN DECEMBER On gold, the market largely ignored news that central banks in Russia and Turkey raised their gold reserves in December, while Iraq cut its holdings by a quarter in November.
Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,654.50 an ounce, extending last week's 1.5 percent decline, its sharpest weekly loss in a month. U.S. COMEX gold futures futures for February delivery settled down $3.70 an ounce at $1,652.90, with volume about 60 percent above its 250-day average due to the February-April rollover ahead of February's first-notice day Friday. Selling related to the expiration of COMEX February options after market close on Monday and over-the-counter option expiry on Tuesday also weighed on bullion, traders said. Analysts said the Federal Open Market Committee policy statement on Wednesday and U.S. nonfarm payrolls data on Friday will likely provide the next short-term direction for gold. Silver fell 0.7 percent to $30.83 an ounce.
3:13 PM EST LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL US Gold FEB 1652.90 -3.70 -0.2 1651.00 1661.60 169,137 US Silver MAR 30.78 -0.426 -1.4 30.745 31.320 33,520 US Plat APR 1662.20 -32.70 -1.9 1659.70 1699.90 11,991 US Pall MAR 740.55 -0.45 -0.1 736.50 749.55 8,040Gold 1654.50 -3.99 -0.2 1652.85 1662.20 Silver 30.830 -0.230 -0.7 30.760 31.300 Platinum 1661.00 -20.00 -1.2 1655.24 1696.00 Palladium 736.22 -1.28 -0.2 739.50 747.50TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG US Gold 271,513 156,919 174,507 14.15 0.31 US Silver 35,599 42,609 53,449 20.17 0.26 US Platinum 12,203 15,366 10,880 16.46 -0.50 US Palladium 8,143 3,258 4,790