Mubasher: Platinum is expected to be the “dark horse” among major metals in the coming period due to its low price, a money manager at Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) has said.

Platinum is considered a cheap metal, compared to others like gold and palladium, Bloomberg reported, citing PIMCO managing director and portfolio manager for commodities Nic Johnson as saying.

“Platinum was the weakest of the four major precious metals last year as environmental concerns reduce demand for diesel-powered automobiles,” Johnson said.

In 2018, platinum prices dropped by as much as 14%.

Earlier in January, gold’s premium over platinum reached a record after a rally during the fourth quarter of 2018.

Although investors have been investing in gold, many have dropped platinum, which resulted in the metal’s price falling amid lower demand and excess supply.

The possibility the trend may be reversed even if slightly, would represent a buying opportunity, PIMCO’s Johnson stated.

Last week, Johnson described platinum as being “relatively unloved and relatively cheap compared to other precious metals.”

He added that it would only “take a rotation of a few percent of the assets in gold exchange-traded funds moving to platinum to really have a big impact on platinum supply-demand balances and prices.”

PIMCO is one of the world’s largest bond managers with over $1.72 trillion under its management.