LONDON, Feb 7: Platinum spiked to a historic high for the sixth trading day in a row on Thursday, as investors flocked to buy the metal on concerns over supply from top producer South Africa.

But prices pared gains later, as key metals retreated from their highs following a rise in the dollar against the euro after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said euro zone growth risks were to the downside.

Palladium eased after hitting a six-year high, gold fell to trade just above $900 an ounce after rising more than 1 per cent towards a record high of $936.50 set on Feb. 1.

Spot platinum rose to a high of $1,850, before falling to $1,833/1,838 at 1518 GMT, against $1,810/1,815 in New York late on Wednesday.

Analysts said that despite the move of some investors to take profits from record high prices late on Thursday, the metal was poised to set new peaks in the coming months.

“Platinum prices continue to rise as energy supply in South Africa has not improved substantially,” said Michael Widmer, metals analyst at Lehman Brothers.

“We forecast another supply shortfall in 2008 and therefore keep our short-term price target at $2000/oz,” he said.

South Africa has appealed to mining companies for help in cutting power consumption to ease a power crisis caused by the failure of electricity generation to match economic growth.

Platinum producers in the country, which accounts for more than three-fourths of global output, are still facing power problems after halting mining operations for five days in January and losing significant production.

“People are now talking about a very significant supply deficit yet again for platinum in 2008 and this is a problem that is not going to go away in a hurry,” said Ross Norman, managing director at TheBullionDesk.com.

Palladium rose to a high of $429 an ounce before falling to $419/424, versus $416/421. Silver was at $16.69/1.74 an ounce, up from $14.46/14.51.—Reuters