JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Spot platinum on Monday touched 1,000 US dollars an ounce for the first time since 1980 on renewed fund buying of the metal.

    At 13:30 (1130 GMT), platinum was quoted at 998 dollars per ounce, up 11 dollars from the metal's previous close.

    A break through the 1,000 dollar per ounce level for platinum should open up a move to 1,040 dollars per ounce followed by 1,090dollars, an I-Net Bridge report said on Monday, citing technical analysts for JP Morgan.

    Platinum is mainly used to make auto catalysts and jewelry, which have experienced a boom in demand in newly emerged markets such as India and China.

    Johnson Matthey, a specialty chemicals company focusing on autocatalysts, predicted in mid-November that the price of platinum could reach 1,030 dollars per ounce during the next six months.

    The all-time high for platinum of about 1,040 dollars an ounce was achieved in March 1980.

    It was unlikely that platinum would fall below 890 dollars per ounce unless demand from jewelry manufacturers contracts more substantially than current trends suggest, Johnson Matthey has said.

    Johnson Matthey forecasts that the global platinum market would remain in deficit in 2005 for the seventh year in a row. Enditem