By | January 15 2013 10:24 AM

Precious metal soared as led by platinum on concerns over production cuts in South African mines. Moreover, gold price gained amid speculations that the Fed would continue its accommodative policies as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned that the US economy is not out of woods, signaling the Fed would maintain its accommodative stance, while Japan’s Prime Minster Abe pushed for "bold monetary policy" by the BOJ. The benchmark contract for gold rose to 8-day high of 1683.8. PGMs jumped with platinum gaining as much as +2.93% and palladium rising to an 11-month high of 725.0. Anglo American Platinum announced it will suspend 4 shafts in South Africa, leading to reduction of production by 400K oz per year. The closure would lower production of the company by -19%. Supply of platinum is vulnerable to output loss as the metal output has been affected by power outage and labor strike in mines in the country.