Did Platinum Find a Bottom?

I asked what the next big move in platinum will be in a July 7, 2026, Barchart article, concluding with the following:

I believe that the next big price move in platinum is likely higher, but a decline below the critical technical support at $1,348.20 per ounce would alter that view. Platinum’s price needs to remain above support, spend time consolidating, and build a base for a price recovery. I am a buyer of platinum on price weakness to accumulate a long position, as long as the price remains above the $1,350 level. The risk-reward dynamics below $1,600 per ounce favor the upside.  

Nearby NMEX platinum futures were trading at $1,641.10 per ounce on July 6, and were higher in early September. Platinum futures formed another critical bottom and technical support level on July 1. 

The plunge from late January through early July

Nearby NYMEX platinum futures closed 2025 at $2,044.20 per ounce. 

The year-to-date continuous contract chart shows the explosive move that took NYMEX platinum futures to a record high of $2,925 per ounce on January 26, 2026, when the rare precious metal ran out of upside momentum. Platinum plunged along with the other precious metals. The price fell 47.4% to a low of $1,539.60 on July 1, 2026, where it found a significant bottom and turned higher. 

A two-stage consolidation period

After finding a bottom on July 1, platinum futures consolidated throughout July and moved to a higher consolidation range throughout August. 

The six-month daily continuous contract chart shows that platinum futures traded between $1,539.60 and $1,701.80 throughout July. In August, the range was higher, between $1,617.80 and $1,921.40 per ounce. Platinum was trading closer to the top end of the trading range on September 3 at over $1,830 per ounce.

The two-stage consolidation period reflects a pattern of higher lows and higher highs since the July 1 bottom. 

The early-June 2026 high is the first technical resistance level to watch

The daily chart shows that the first technical resistance target is the June 2, 2026, high of $1,988.20 per ounce. From a longer-term perspective, the quarterly chart highlights a developing pattern that could light another bullish fuse under the platinum futures market. 

The quarterly chart shows that platinum futures reached a lower low in Q3 2026 at $1,539.60 than the Q2 2026 low of $1,557.50 per ounce. If platinum futures close above the Q2 2026 high of $2,217.50 at the end of Q3, it would form a bullish key reversal pattern on the quarterly chart. The last quarterly reversal occurred in Q2 2025, which lifted platinum prices by 117.8% from $1,343 at the end of June 2025 to $2,925 in late January 2026. 

The case for higher platinum prices before the end of 2026

The following factors support a continued recovery and higher highs in the platinum futures market:

• Platinum is a rare precious metal, with most annual supply coming from South Africa and Russia.
• Given its density and heat resistance, platinum has many industrial applications.
• Platinum is a financial asset that tends to track gold and silver prices.
• Gold and silver futures prices have recovered from recent lows and have made higher lows and higher highs.
• Platinum futures are less liquid than gold and silver futures, with lower daily trading volume and open interest, the total number of open long and short positions in the futures market. Lower liquidity can lead to higher price volatility.
• A falling U.S. dollar and the overall decline in fiat currencies’ purchasing power support commodity prices, and platinum is no exception.
• The U.S. Treasury’s move to double asset repurchases is a form of quantitative easing. Stable or lower interest rates support higher commodity prices.
• Geopolitical events support safe-haven assets such as precious metals.
• Platinum’s trend has turned higher, and trends are traders’ and investors’ best friends. 

At around $1,830 per ounce in early September, platinum futures could have considerable room to recover over the coming weeks and months.

PPLT and PLTM are physical platinum ETFs

The most direct route to invest in or trade platinum is the physical market for bars and coins. However, buying physical platinum involves premiums for purchases and discounts for sales that can vastly impact returns. Moreover, holding physical platinum involves storage and insurance considerations. 

NYMEX platinum futures have a physical delivery mechanism. Each contract contains 50 troy ounces. However, platinum futures require specialized accounts and involve leverage because of margin requirements. 

Two ETF products own physical platinum bullion. The ETFs are available to standard equity account holders and address storage and insurance issues. Moreover, the liquid ETFs do not involve premiums for buyers and discounts for sellers as they directly track platinum prices. 

• The Physical Platinum ETF (PPLT) is the most liquid product that holds physical platinum bullion. At $16.50 per share, PPLT had over $2.032 billion in assets under management. PPLT trades an average of more than 2.794 million shares per day and charges a 0.60% management fee.
• The GraniteShares Platinum Shares ETF (PLTM) provides an alternative to PPLT. At $17.49 per share, PLTM had over $190.9 million in assets under management. PLTM trades an average of more than 155,000 shares per day and charges a lower 0.50% management fee. 

PPLT and PLTM do an excellent job tracking platinum prices. The tradeoff is PPLT’s higher level of liquidity for PLTM’s slightly lower management fee. 

Platinum appears to have found a bottom in early June 2026. I expect platinum’s price to continue to climb over the coming weeks and months and be higher than the current level at the end of 2026. 

On the date of publication, Andrew Hecht did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.