This week, palladium finally began to follow gold and lose some of its safe haven appeal. After holding steady and resisting gold’s sell-off, platinum and palladium have finally succumbed, dropping rapidly in this morning as poor auto industry numbers rolled in.
Exchange Traded Funds that deal in the precious metals have been seeing an increase in business, lately. ETF Securities said on Monday the amount of metal it holds to back its Physical Palladium exchange-traded commodity PHPD.L rose 12,628 ounces or 8 percent in the week to Feb. 6.
Spot palladium rebounded on Monday, up more than 5 per cent from New York’s notional close of $168.00. Palladium hit $176.50 per ounce as technical buying emerged after demand worries stemming from an ambiguous auto industry vote hit platinum group metals on Friday.
Palladium finally got some upside last Wednesday, when it rose 5 percent on the sentiment that the recent price slip in the metal was overdone. Prices for palladium have fallen 56 percent in the third quarter, dropped 34 percent last month alone.
Palladium spot prices remained unchanged on the NYMEX today after the Dow Jones market rally of Oct. 13.08. Some precious metals such as gold suffered losses today as "safe haven" investing in precious metals and other, traditionally "safe" investments, took a backseat due to rebounding market conditions. Today, the market rally calmed as investors stopped to assess the current market climate before re-entering as buyers.
Palladium and platinum values have tumbled on world markets as auto sales continue to stall, and the proposed 700 billion dollar bailout by Congress may or not be reconfigured to pass into law.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009