(Reuters) – Palladium rose 11% on Friday on renewed supply concerns after trading in the metal from Russian refineries in London was suspended over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Palladium, used by automakers in catalytic converters to reduce emissions, rose 7.8% to hit its highest level since March 25 after the London Platinum and Palladium Market, a trade association that accredits refiners, announced. (Full story)
“Roughly 40% of primary palladium supply comes from Russia, for the rest of the year about 1.8 million ounces of primary production could be at risk…the suspension could exacerbate the shortages,” said Suki Cooper, analyst at Standard Chartered.
Palladium XPD= surged to $2,408.50 by 1:54 pm ET (1754 GMT), on course for its first weekly gain in five weeks. The metal rose to an all-time high of $3,440.76 on March 7 on concerns over supply from the top Russian producer.
“Ultimately, the market is concerned that we’re going to have an even tighter market than before,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.5% to $1,941.94 an ounce and is up 0.9% on the week, while US gold futures GCv1 is up 0.4% to $1,945.6. (Full story)
Gold’s rise came despite solid gains from the US dollar, a competing safe haven. A stronger dollar generally makes gold less attractive to foreign buyers. USD/ US/ (Full Story)
Uncertainty about what the Federal Reserve will do after the rate hike is driving inflows into gold, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Recession fears, growth concerns and inflationary pressures are also prompting people to hedge with gold, Moya added.
While gold is seen as a safe haven during global conflicts and rising inflation, higher US interest rates are increasing the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding bullion.
Silver XAG= was up 0.9% to $24.78 an ounce, up 0.6% for the week, while platinum XPT= was up 1.4% to $975.91, but for the fifth straight week fell.
(Reporting by Seer Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Shailesh Kuber and Vinay Dwivedi)
Comments are closed.