Metals

XPT/USD: Platinum / US Dollar

Spot platinum priced in US dollars per troy ounce. Demand is led by industrial and automotive uses.

Open an account Chart

What happens next

Choose live or demo, and say where you live. On this website. No name and no e-mail address is asked for here, and nothing is stored.
Register in the client portal. Your name, e-mail address, a password and your country; acceptance of the Terms and the Risk Disclosure. Then you confirm your e-mail address.
Demo: choose your virtual funds and open the terminal. Live: upload your identity documents; an account is opened once they are approved. Live trading is not yet connected.

Market DNA

Below, XPT/USD is taken apart: its class, its contract, its hours and what is connected to it. Structure, not a signal.

Market DNA

What XPT/USD is made of.

Its class, its contract, the hours it lives in and the institutions, releases and ideas connected to it.

This is structure. It is not a score and it is not a signal: it tells you what the instrument is, not what it will do.

BaseXPTPlatinum

QuoteUSDUS Dollar

The price of XPT/USD is the amount of USD (US Dollar) needed for one troy ounce of platinum.

Asset class: Metals
Contract: Quoted in US dollars per troy ounce
Platform symbol: XPTUSD
Typical sessions: Close to 24 hours a day on weekdays, with a short daily break.See the sessions on the World Market Clock
Concepts: Volatility

Trading conditions

As published by GIO4X.

Spread from: 4.0 USDminimum, widens with market conditions
Leverage: 1:50depends on instrument and jurisdiction
Minimum lot: 0.01
Contract: Quoted in US dollars per troy ounce
Platform symbol: XPTUSD

IndicativeSource: GIO4XIndicative trading conditions published by GIO4X. Not a live quote; actual spreads and requirements vary with market conditions and account type.

All trading conditions

Contract size, pip value and margin per lot

Contract size: Not yet published
Pip value per 1.00 lot: Not yet published
Margin per 1.00 lot: Not yet published

The 777 Raptor demo terminal does not list XPT/USD, and GIO4X has not yet published a contract specification for it. No figure is borrowed from a similar instrument. Contract specifications

Third-party chart

XPT/USD on a daily chart

The chart is supplied by TradingView and stays unloaded until you ask for it. Loading it connects your browser to TradingView’s servers.

Third partyChart by TradingViewThird-party data for Platinum / US Dollar, not supplied or verified by GIO4X and not a GIO4X price. Symbol OANDA:XPTUSD, UTC.

Before you trade it

Work the numbers. Know the words.

Tools

All tools

Glossary

Full glossary

In depth

What is particular to Platinum / US Dollar.

Platinum is an industrial metal with a jewellery market attached, and almost none of gold’s monetary role. Its supply is concentrated in one country to a degree found in few other commodities, and its largest use is in cleaning vehicle exhaust. The price therefore turns on South African mining and on the car industry far more than on interest rates.

General education about the underlying market. It states no current price or rate, makes no forecast and is not advice. What GIO4X offers on this instrument is in the trading conditions on this page, not here.

What moves it

Vehicle exhaust catalysts: The largest single use of platinum is in catalytic converters, historically above all for diesel engines. The disclosure in September 2015 that diesel emissions tests had been cheated was followed by a lasting fall in diesel’s share of European car sales, and with it this source of demand. Tighter emissions rules work the other way, since they require more metal in each vehicle.
South African supply: Most of the world’s mined platinum comes from South Africa, with Russia and Zimbabwe well behind. The mines are deep, labour-intensive and heavy users of electricity, so strikes and power shortages reach the price directly: a strike in the first half of 2014 stopped much of the industry for about five months. Because miners’ costs are in rand and their sales in dollars, a weak rand lets them keep producing at lower dollar prices.
Substitution with palladium: Platinum and palladium can replace one another in petrol-engine catalysts, within limits and with a delay of years while new designs are approved. When one becomes much dearer than the other, carmakers shift towards the cheaper metal. This ties the two prices together over the long run and is the main reason neither can stay far above the other indefinitely.
Jewellery and industry: Jewellery, especially in China and Japan, is the second large use, and like gold jewellery it is sensitive to price. Platinum is also used in glass-making, chemical and petroleum refining, and medical devices. Its use in hydrogen fuel cells and in the electrolysers that make hydrogen is a possible future source of demand, of uncertain size.
Recycling: A large share of supply comes from recovering metal from scrapped catalytic converters and old jewellery. This supply responds to the price and to how many old vehicles are being scrapped. It makes the market less dependent on mines than the concentration of mining alone would suggest.
Gold and the dollar, weakly: Platinum is priced in dollars and moves somewhat with gold and against the dollar. The link is loose: for long stretches platinum cost more than gold, and for long stretches less. In a recession it tends to behave as an industrial metal and fall, where gold may rise.

Mechanics

How it is quoted and built.

XPT and how it is quoted: XPT is the code for one troy ounce of platinum, and XPT/USD is its price in US dollars. The market is small compared with gold’s, so quotes carry a wider gap between buying and selling prices and can jump when a large order arrives.
London and Zurich: The wholesale market is organised by the London Platinum and Palladium Market, and metal is held and settled in London or Zurich. The standard is a plate or ingot of at least 99.95 per cent purity. Industrial users often need the metal as a powder called sponge, which can trade at a different price from ingot when one form is scarce.
The benchmark: The LBMA Platinum Price is set twice each London business day, in the morning and the afternoon. The auction has been run by the London Metal Exchange since December 2014. It is the reference used in supply contracts between miners, refiners and carmakers.
The futures exchange: Platinum futures trade on NYMEX in New York, part of CME Group, in a contract of 50 troy ounces, half the size of the gold contract. Turnover is a small fraction of gold’s. In a thin futures market the positions of speculative funds can be large relative to the whole, and their changes move the price.

Not the same thing

The market itself, and a contract on its price.

Spot reference price: Spot platinum is the wholesale price for metal held in London or Zurich, quoted by a small number of dealers. Fewer dealers means the retail quotes built on it differ more from one provider to another than gold quotes do.
A futures contract: A NYMEX platinum future is for 50 ounces in a named month. The contract months are fewer and more widely spaced than gold’s, and most activity sits in the nearest one. Holders who stay in the market must move from one month to the next as each expires.
Physical metal: Platinum coins and bars exist but are made in small numbers, so premiums are high and resale markets narrow. In the United Kingdom and the European Union they do not share investment gold’s exemption from value added tax. Most physical platinum is held by industry and in vaults for funds, not by individuals.
A contract on the price: A contract for difference or margined position follows the platinum price with no metal owned. In a thin market the cost of dealing is higher and gaps over news are larger than in gold. The position depends on the provider and normally carries a financing adjustment overnight.

Timetable and sources

What is scheduled, and where the facts come from.

Worth knowing the timetable of

Monthly vehicle sales and production figures for Europe, China and the United States
Statistics South Africa’s monthly mining production release
The World Platinum Investment Council’s Platinum Quarterly
Johnson Matthey’s annual PGM Market Report, published around the London Platinum Week
The weekly Commitments of Traders report, for positioning in NYMEX platinum futures
New stages of vehicle emissions standards in Europe, China and the United States

Named, never dated: dates move. The Economic Events page explains the main releases.

Primary sources

World Platinum Investment Council: Platinum Quarterly
Johnson Matthey: PGM Market Report
London Platinum and Palladium Market and London Bullion Market Association: Good Delivery rules; London Metal Exchange: LBMA Platinum Price
CME Group: NYMEX platinum futures contract specifications
Statistics South Africa: Mining: Production and sales

Named by publisher and series, so each can be found from the publisher itself. GIO4X has no connection with them.

What would a trade in it cost?

The cost of a trade is the spread, any commission, and financing for each night it is held. The Cost Lab works the three out for a day trade, an overnight position and a longer hold, from figures you enter. A complete total also needs the swap rates, which are not yet published; the Lab shows which input is missing instead of a total that only looks complete.

Work it out in the Cost Lab

The risk, in ordinary type.

Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose.

XPT/USD is traded on margin. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.

Risk disclosure

Continue

Fetching the page

XPT/USDPlatinum / US Dollar

Spot platinum priced in US dollars per troy ounce. Demand is led by industrial and automotive uses.

Open an account Chart

What happens next

Choose live or demo, and say where you live. On this website. No name and no e-mail address is asked for here, and nothing is stored.
Register in the client portal. Your name, e-mail address, a password and your country; acceptance of the Terms and the Risk Disclosure. Then you confirm your e-mail address.
Demo: choose your virtual funds and open the terminal. Live: upload your identity documents; an account is opened once they are approved. Live trading is not yet connected.

As published by GIO4X.

Spread from

4.0 USDminimum, widens with market conditions

Leverage

1:50depends on instrument and jurisdiction

Minimum lot

0.01

Contract

Quoted in US dollars per troy ounce

Platform symbol

XPTUSD

IndicativeSource: GIO4XIndicative trading conditions published by GIO4X. Not a live quote; actual spreads and requirements vary with market conditions and account type.

All trading conditions

Contract size, pip value and margin per lot

Contract size: Not yet published
Pip value per 1.00 lot: Not yet published
Margin per 1.00 lot: Not yet published

The 777 Raptor demo terminal does not list XPT/USD, and GIO4X has not yet published a contract specification for it. No figure is borrowed from a similar instrument. Contract specifications

What is particular to Platinum / US Dollar.

What moves it

Vehicle exhaust catalysts: The largest single use of platinum is in catalytic converters, historically above all for diesel engines. The disclosure in September 2015 that diesel emissions tests had been cheated was followed by a lasting fall in diesel’s share of European car sales, and with it this source of demand. Tighter emissions rules work the other way, since they require more metal in each vehicle.
South African supply: Most of the world’s mined platinum comes from South Africa, with Russia and Zimbabwe well behind. The mines are deep, labour-intensive and heavy users of electricity, so strikes and power shortages reach the price directly: a strike in the first half of 2014 stopped much of the industry for about five months. Because miners’ costs are in rand and their sales in dollars, a weak rand lets them keep producing at lower dollar prices.
Substitution with palladium: Platinum and palladium can replace one another in petrol-engine catalysts, within limits and with a delay of years while new designs are approved. When one becomes much dearer than the other, carmakers shift towards the cheaper metal. This ties the two prices together over the long run and is the main reason neither can stay far above the other indefinitely.
Jewellery and industry: Jewellery, especially in China and Japan, is the second large use, and like gold jewellery it is sensitive to price. Platinum is also used in glass-making, chemical and petroleum refining, and medical devices. Its use in hydrogen fuel cells and in the electrolysers that make hydrogen is a possible future source of demand, of uncertain size.
Recycling: A large share of supply comes from recovering metal from scrapped catalytic converters and old jewellery. This supply responds to the price and to how many old vehicles are being scrapped. It makes the market less dependent on mines than the concentration of mining alone would suggest.
Gold and the dollar, weakly: Platinum is priced in dollars and moves somewhat with gold and against the dollar. The link is loose: for long stretches platinum cost more than gold, and for long stretches less. In a recession it tends to behave as an industrial metal and fall, where gold may rise.

How it is quoted and built.

XPT and how it is quoted: XPT is the code for one troy ounce of platinum, and XPT/USD is its price in US dollars. The market is small compared with gold’s, so quotes carry a wider gap between buying and selling prices and can jump when a large order arrives.
London and Zurich: The wholesale market is organised by the London Platinum and Palladium Market, and metal is held and settled in London or Zurich. The standard is a plate or ingot of at least 99.95 per cent purity. Industrial users often need the metal as a powder called sponge, which can trade at a different price from ingot when one form is scarce.
The benchmark: The LBMA Platinum Price is set twice each London business day, in the morning and the afternoon. The auction has been run by the London Metal Exchange since December 2014. It is the reference used in supply contracts between miners, refiners and carmakers.
The futures exchange: Platinum futures trade on NYMEX in New York, part of CME Group, in a contract of 50 troy ounces, half the size of the gold contract. Turnover is a small fraction of gold’s. In a thin futures market the positions of speculative funds can be large relative to the whole, and their changes move the price.

The market itself, and a contract on its price.

Spot reference price: Spot platinum is the wholesale price for metal held in London or Zurich, quoted by a small number of dealers. Fewer dealers means the retail quotes built on it differ more from one provider to another than gold quotes do.
A futures contract: A NYMEX platinum future is for 50 ounces in a named month. The contract months are fewer and more widely spaced than gold’s, and most activity sits in the nearest one. Holders who stay in the market must move from one month to the next as each expires.
Physical metal: Platinum coins and bars exist but are made in small numbers, so premiums are high and resale markets narrow. In the United Kingdom and the European Union they do not share investment gold’s exemption from value added tax. Most physical platinum is held by industry and in vaults for funds, not by individuals.
A contract on the price: A contract for difference or margined position follows the platinum price with no metal owned. In a thin market the cost of dealing is higher and gaps over news are larger than in gold. The position depends on the provider and normally carries a financing adjustment overnight.

What is scheduled, and where the facts come from.

Worth knowing the timetable of

Monthly vehicle sales and production figures for Europe, China and the United States
Statistics South Africa’s monthly mining production release
The World Platinum Investment Council’s Platinum Quarterly
Johnson Matthey’s annual PGM Market Report, published around the London Platinum Week
The weekly Commitments of Traders report, for positioning in NYMEX platinum futures
New stages of vehicle emissions standards in Europe, China and the United States

Named, never dated: dates move. The Economic Events page explains the main releases.

Primary sources

World Platinum Investment Council: Platinum Quarterly
Johnson Matthey: PGM Market Report
London Platinum and Palladium Market and London Bullion Market Association: Good Delivery rules; London Metal Exchange: LBMA Platinum Price
CME Group: NYMEX platinum futures contract specifications
Statistics South Africa: Mining: Production and sales

Named by publisher and series, so each can be found from the publisher itself. GIO4X has no connection with them.

What would a trade in it cost?

Work it out in the Cost Lab

The risk, in ordinary type.

XPT/USD is traded on margin. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.

Risk disclosure