Spot palladium was up 1.4% at $3,037.76 an ounce by 1033 GMT. It hovered between gains of 7.5% and a loss of around 3.4% in choppy price action, after hitting a record high of $3,440.76 on Monday.
Platinum rose 1.3% to $1,138.01.
Financial restrictions imposed on Russia – the largest producer of automotive catalysts – for its invasion of Ukraine are expected to disrupt shipments and exacerbate the supply shortage.
“The cost of getting palladium into the production of a car is relatively low,” and in the event of a shortage, automakers would be willing to pay almost any price for the metal and keep production going, Ole Hansen said. , Saxo bank analyst.
Spot gold gained 0.4% to $2,006.40 an ounce, after climbing to $2,020.80, its highest since August 2020, earlier in the day.
Gold continues to be a low-volatility safe haven, Hansen said. “We are going to face a period of extremely high inflation where central banks will find it difficult to mount a defense due to other constraints. And that will continue to draw investors into the gold market.”
Analysts said gold, traditionally seen as a safe store of value during such global crises, could make another run towards an all-time high of $2,072.50 reached on August 7, 2020 if the situation worsens, amid existing concerns about skyrocketing inflation as the price of oil continues to climb. [O/R]
US gold futures rose 0.7% to $2,008.90. Cash rose 1.7% to $26.09.
Gold is the ultimate antidote to stagflation – economic recession accompanied by high inflation – which is increasingly plausible if things continue to get worse, said Ricardo Evangelista, principal analyst at ActivTrades.