By Dave McCombs

Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Platinum fell in Asia for the first time in five days as some analysts said the gain to a record this week may have gone too far.

Long positions, or bets prices will rise, have become less attractive after the metal rose to a record $1,523.50 an ounce on Dec. 18, said John Reade, an analyst at UBS AG in London.

``We do not think that $1,500 an ounce is a level that investors should be jumping into new longs in platinum,'' Reade wrote in a note to clients dated yesterday.

Platinum for immediate delivery fell to $1,509.50 an ounce as of 11:08 a.m. in Tokyo, a 0.7 percent drop from late yesterday in New York.

The metal for December delivery closed the morning session on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 5,246 yen a gram ($1,440 an ounce), after opening at 5,279 yen in its first day of trade as the most-active contract. Platinum for October delivery fell 0.4 percent to 5,265 yen a gram.

``We are also wary of the time of the year. Liquidity, something that the platinum market is never famous for, is already becoming constrained by the approaching festive season and year end,'' Reade wrote.

To contact the reporter for this story: Dave McCombs in Tokyo at dmccombs@bloomberg.net .