According to data released by the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) as of October 20, the net short position in platinum futures has expanded significantly compared with the previous week, reaching 11,994 contracts. The short position is 11,734 contracts while the long position is 5,440 contracts; the difference between the two positions shows that the net short has increased.
When compared to October 13, the short position in platinum was 1,431 contracts and the long position was 136 contracts, both of which have risen, but the increase in buying is smaller than that in selling. When a contract is calculated at 100 t, the market shows strong selling pressure on platinum.
From a technical point of view, the screen of Invest.com at 10/29 1:26 am (KST) reported an RSI(14) of 29.553, which lies below the traditional over‑sell threshold of 30. However this value does not clearly separate exchange and spot prices; converting it to a price is difficult. In the analysis chart released by Invest.com on 10/28, an RSI of 26 was shown for the same time point, but these two values are not the same measurement so caution is needed when interpreting over‑sell signals.
The US Federal Reserve policy target range remains at 3.75–4.00 % and a policy statement was released on 10/29 3 pm (KST). At that same time point, platinum supply is influenced by production, recycling, re‑use and other factors. Johnson Matt’s report published on 5/14 indicated that platinum demand would fall 9 %, which could be expected to shift the market into a relatively low supply state. The report from the London Metal Market Association released on 1/20 also mentioned that HSBC’s production and supply gap is narrowing, but the supply itself will continue to expand. These reports are expected to serve as reference data in interpreting both supply and demand movements of platinum.