MKS: Gold Draws Buying On Price Dips; Caution On Sky-High Palladium
Gold has been underpinned by buying that has occurred onpullbacks, while some caution may in order on palladium as this metal remainsat historically high prices, says Alex Thorndike, senior precious-metals dealerwith MKS (Switzerland) S.A. ComexFebruary gold topped $1,300 on the final day of 2017 and hasremained above this so far in 2018. “The support for the gold continues to emerge on dips despite usseeing the majority of flows here on the left-hand side,” Thorndike says.“January has historically been a strong month for gold, with prices rising onaverage a little over 4% for the past 10 years. This has traditionally beentied into strong physical demand leading into Chinese New Year, which has yetto materialize this year.” Meanwhile, he points out that palladium hit $1,100an ounce Thursday for the first time since 2001. “We tend to remain a littlecautious here, however, with a test of the all-time highs having the potentialto trigger a consolidation,” Thorndike says. “Net-long positions are elevatedat over 80% of the all-time high, so some consolidation may be warranted totake some of the froth out.” As of 8:14 a.m. EST, February gold was down $3.20to $1,318.40 an ounce, while NymexMarch palladium was down $3.15 to $1,091.60.
By Allen Sykoraof Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
Commerzbank: Dec. U.S. Auto Data SupportsPalladium, But Sales May Sag In 2018
Friday January 05, 2017 08:26
December U.S. auto sales appeared to addto strength in palladium this week, although expectations are these sales willdecline in the new year, says Commerzbank. The main industrial use for themetal is catalytic converters. Commerzbank cites data from Ward’s Automotive Group showingthat the seasonally adjusted and annualized sales rate in December was higherthan anticipated at 17.76 million vehicles. “Once again, it was pickups andSUVs that were particularly popular - a trend that had already been seenthroughout the year,” Commerzbank says. Still, analysts point out that at 17.13million units, U.S. vehicles sales in 2017 registered their first decline ineight years, mainly because of weak sales of sedans. “The consensus is that2018 will see a further decline as higher interest rates put the brakes ondemand,” Commerzbank says. “What is more, more used SUVs will be available. Bycontrast, more cars were sold in Germany last year, though the proportion ofdiesel vehicles decreased significantly.”
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
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