30.07.202601:04:32UTC+00Platinum Pressured Near November Lows

Platinum futures hovered around $1,630 an ounce, trading near late-November lows as weaker industrial demand and renewed inflation concerns linked to the war in the Middle East weighed on sentiment. The conflict has kept energy prices elevated, intensifying inflationary pressures and reinforcing expectations that interest rates will stay higher for longer, which undermines the appeal of non-yielding assets such as platinum. Although the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, Chairman Kevin Warsh cautioned that further rate hikes could become an appropriate policy response if inflation remains persistently high. Sentiment in the platinum market was further dampened by expectations of softer industrial and automotive demand, despite a persistently tight supply backdrop. The accelerating shift toward electric vehicles, which do not require autocatalysts, has clouded the medium-term demand outlook even as the market is projected to record a fourth consecutive annual supply deficit, driven by constrained mine output and shrinking above-ground inventories.