Precious Metals and Industrial Metals Trading In The Green

It’s been a busy morning in Asian markets as the week kicks off.  President Obama and Putin continue their war of words as the Eurozone members contemplate more sanctions against Russia. Oil advanced with gold. Palladium traded at the highest since 2011 and eastern European currencies slumped as the United Nations Security Council met to discuss worsening violence in Ukraine. Palladium closed at its highest level in two-and-a-half years, while platinum has neared a four-week high as escalating tensions between Russia and the West and continued mine-worker strikes in South Africa spur worries about supply.

Palladium on Friday rose $14.50, or 1.8 per cent, to settle at $806.80. This was the highest close since August 2, 2011, when palladium settled at $826.90 an ounce. Nymex platinum rose $2.50, or 0.2 per cent, to settle at $1,462.60 its highest level since March 17. Platinum and palladium are often found together, and both metals have been marching higher in recent weeks amid worries that top palladium producer, Russia, would face a new set of trade sanctions from Europe and the US. The West’s diplomatic relations with Russia have frayed after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in mid-March. Russia supplies about 40 per cent of the world’s palladium, while South Africa supplies about 37 per cent. Metals traders also kept a close eye on South Africa, the world’s top platinum producer and second-largest palladium producer, where mine-worker strikes entered their 11th week.

This morning gold added 0.7 percent to $1,327.50 an ounce after touching the highest price since March 24. Palladium rose to $814.65 an ounce, the priciest since August 2011, while platinum increased 0.7 percent to trade at $1,466.95. Silver took its cues from gold to add 117 points to trade at 20.063.SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 1.80 tonnes to 804.42 tonnes on Friday.

along with industrial metals are trading in the green this morning with copper adding 13 points to trade at 3.054 as inventory levels in China continue to climb. Stronger US data helped give metals their bump this morning. There is no sign yet of copper financing deals in China unwinding, Goldman Sachs analyst Max Layton told the copper market gathered in Santiago for Cesco. Copper is being shipped out of China, though: among the things that Metal Bulletin’s Andrea Hotter and Mark Burton learned in Santiago was that shipments have been sent as far as Rotterdam and Antwerp. A large copper producer said that low copper prices after Black Friday had encouraged customers to book business forward in a manner not seen for years. Shanghai Futures Exchange copper prices closed higher on Friday April 11 following comments from the People’s Bank of China governor on policy and tight availability in the spot market.