The December platinum futures contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange finished up three yen per gram at 2,861. The contract dipped to 2,836 yen in trade, tracking losses in New York.
But prices turned positive as the dollar's climb above 104 yen spurred buybacks. "The market showed resilience, as the December contract swiftly regained the 2,850 yen level, weathering profit-taking pressure," a Tokyo broker said, adding that the contract was poised to test the key 2,900-yen level shortly.
The contract hit a 2-1/2 month high of 2,887 yen on Tuesday as the market's technical strength prompted speculative buying by overseas operators and stop-loss orders from local investors.
It slipped back to as low as 2,830 yen on Wednesday, weighed down by news that Linemen Plc, the world's third largest platinum producer, reported a 4.9 percent jump in refined platinum output for the quarter to December 2004.
Prices were also capped by expectations that demand from China, the world's largest platinum consumer, would dwindle due to the Lunar New Year holiday this month.
Spot platinum was quoted at $873/878 an ounce, up from $869/873 in late New York on Wednesday.
In the gold market, TOCOM's benchmark December contract closed five yen per gram higher at 1,417.
The contract was expected to be locked in a 1,410-1,420 yen band for the rest of the week as operators were wary of taking positions before the US jobs data and a speech on the current account by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Friday, brokers said.
Operators were also eager to see how the currency market would react to the G7 meeting on Friday and Saturday, they said. Spot gold was quoted at $421.30/422.10 an ounce, steady from Wednesday's New York close of $421.00/80.
The dollar rose on Thursday, pulled up by euro/yen buying related to Japanese investments in euro bonds. The dollar was at 104.08/13 yen, up from 103.60 in late US trade.
Below are closing prices for TOCOM's most active precious metals contracts, with the day's turnover for each metal. Closing prices are in yen per gram except for silver, which is in yen per 10 grams.