Platinum’s march toward $1600, following forecasts of deficits in the wake of continued

Platinum’s march toward $1600, following forecasts of deficits in the wake of continued labor strife in South Africa, has been reversed after reports that workers are returning to the mines at Anglo American Platinum. Amplats, the world’s #1 platinum producer, said workers began returning to work today and that it would take about a week for production to resume. Platinum closed yesterday’s session at $1591.60 but is now trading more than .75% lower at $1578. Palladium looks to have slowed its recent surge as the metal is now trading modestly softer in the early session, down .4% to $638. U.S. initial jobless claims soared 78,000 to 439,000 last week but the jobs data needs to be taken with an even bigger grain of salt than normal as the numbers are skewed by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and could be for quite some time. In other data released today, October CPI rose just .1%. Philly Fed manufacturing data will be released at 10:00 am EST. Across the pond, Eurozone GDP readings have indicated that the region is in recession yet again. Eurozone GDP in the third quarter contracted .1%. Have a great day!