LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) -
Platinum soared to its highest price in nearly 17 years on Thursday, boosted by U.S. President George W. Bush's call for more research into fuel cell technology.
Spot platinum ((XPT=)) traded at $673.00 an ounce, hitting levels not seen since September, 1986 and marking a rally that has taken the white metal from under $450.00 last year.
Shares in the world's leading platinum producer
Angloplat ((AMSJ.J)) in South Africa have also climbed on the rise in the price of the metal, which is now widely used in autocatalysts for cleaning vehicle exhaust fumes and in jewellery
Traders were keeping an eye on the world's fifth largest platinum producer, Russia's Norilsk Nickel ((GMKN.RTS)), where management are in negotiations to avert a strike over pay.
Bush called in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday for $1.2 billion to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles that would use platinum in fuel cells, sharpening the appetite of investment funds for the metal. "We've been hearing about fuel cells for ages and ages, but it seems the funds piled in after Bush's speech," a brokerage analyst in Tokyo said.
Fuel cells create electricity without pollution by combining hydrogen and oxygen into water. In his speech, Bush said fuel cells could not only reduce pollution from vehicles, but also reduce American dependence on imported oil.
Ballard Power BLDP shares rose as much as 12.5 percent earlier today on extremely heavy volume but are now hovering a notch above the breakeven mark. The equity's intraday high was precariously near the 11.675 mark. This defines a 50-percent retracement level between the stock's October low and its December high. The shares have also pulled back below their 20-day moving average. BLDP is currently favored among short sellers. There are nearly 11.5 million BLDP shares sold short, for a short-interest ratio of more than 10 times. If the security were to embark upon a rally, it would take these bearish players just over two weeks to cover their shorted positions.
Millennium Cell has developed a storage system for hydrogen in vehicles, while Plug Power has a partnership with Honda Motor Co. Ltd.
Plug Power fällt schon wieder leicht,gewisse Skepsis gegenüber dem Programm
Jan 28, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- GrafTech International Ltd. (GTI, Trade), a leader in graphite and carbon science for over 100 years, today announced it has received an order valued at approximately $500,000 for GTI fuel cell products from Ballard Power Systems, under its existing supply agreement. The order provides for delivery over the next 6 months and will support the demand for Ballard's Mark 902 fuel cell stack. The product ordered will be used by Ballard to fulfill its commitment to its automotive customers for both light-duty and heavy-duty fuel cells.
As previously announced GRAFCELL(TM) advanced flexible graphite will be included in Ballard's fuel cells for DaimlerChrysler's Citaro buses and Mercedes Benz A Class fuel cell vehicles, Honda's recently announced FCX vehicle and Ford's Focus FCV
Graftech fiel um 12% am Freitagg
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