Platinum drifted lower in early trading; spot market transactions were moderate [SMM Daily Review]

Platinum futures consolidated on a subdued note today. FOMC voting member Hammack struck a hawkish tone at the NABE annual meeting, arguing that the current monetary policy is not sufficiently restrictive, inflationary pressures are broad-based, and there is a risk of expectations becoming entrenched. She advocated for smaller, more frequent rate hikes to avoid the need for sharp increases later. The market focused on this week's US CPI data for guidance. In early trading, the most-traded GFEX platinum contract PT2612 closed at 413.75 yuan/g, down 0.56%; the price spread between the best ask for SGE Pt9995 and the GFEX PT2612 contract narrowed to around 3 yuan/g.

In the spot market, mainstream quotations from suppliers were centered around a discount of 0.5 yuan/g to parity against PT2612. Downstream buying sentiment was normal, and transactions at mainstream quotations were moderate. Some traders reported that available platinum spot cargoes were tight, with limited momentum for warrant releases. Overall, premiums in the platinum spot market remained largely unchanged today, with moderate transaction activity.