NY palladium hits contract high on platinum gains

NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. palladium futures rocketed nearly 6 percent to a contract high on Friday, fueled by strong speculative buying, solid gains in platinum and supply worries from top producers Russia and South Africa.

At 9:57 a.m. EST (1457 GMT), the active palladium for March delivery PAH8 of the New York Mercantile Exchange surged $22.55 or 5.7 percent to $417.05 an ounce. Just moments earlier, it had scaled a contract peak of $417.60. (Reporting by Frank Tang)