Platinum gains on China demand

The price of July platinum futures added $21.10 to $1,178.70 per troy ounce in New York on Wednesday on a report that imports into China were up by 35 percent in March.

China will increase spending for subsidies to buy new cars, according to the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance there, spending 1 billion yuan rather than the previously announced 600 million yuan, a jump of 67 percent in financing for the program.

In morning trade in New York, June palladium had added $9.85 to $232 per troy ounce.

Both precious metals are used in the manufacture of pollution control devices for motor vehicles.

Gold and silver were both also higher after the International Monetary Fund predicted that the global economy will contract by 1.3 percent this year, reversing an earlier forecast of 0.5 percent growth this year.

June gold was up $9.90 per troy ounce in New York, while May silver gained 22 cents to $12.28 per troy ounce.

Copper, on the other hand, declined on the IMF forecast as investors worried that demand for metals used in industry will continue to retreat.

A Copper Study Group report said that global demand will fall by 4.3 percent this year, although it said that demand in China will increase by 3 percent.

July copper was 2 percent lower to $2.06 per pound in New York, while at last report three-month copper had dropped $17 to $4,490 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.