Platinum settles near 22-month trough as eyes fixed on Fed

Platinum prices fell in American trade to near the lowest since February 2016 even as the dollar index dipped for the first time in six sessions, following a basket of data from the US, the world's largest economy, while the FOMC meeting draws to an end in Washington. 

As of 03:24 GMT, platinum fell 0.60% to $875.32 an ounce from the opening of $880.60, while the dollar index declined 0.19% to 93.92 from the opening of 94.10. 

US consumer prices rose 0.4% in November in line with expectations, up from 0.1% in October, while core prices, excluding food and fuel, rose 0.1%, missing expectations of 0.2%. 

On a yearly basis, consumer prices accelerated to 2.2% as expected from 2.0% in October, while core prices slowed down to 1.7% from 1.8%. 

Now markets look forward to US President Donald Trump's speech on tax reforms in the US Treasury Department in Washington, while the Federal Open Market Committee's last 2017 meeting draws to an end today, with policymakers expected to unveil their three-year forecasts for inflation, growth, unemployment, and interest rates, while expected to also hike rates by 25 basis points for the third time this year.

Standard Chartered said recently that the platinum market will be "mostly balanced", after revising its forecasts to a surplus of supplies this year at 63 thousand ounces, compared to a deficit of 42K deficit in 2016.