Palladium climbs off 9-day low, dollar scales two-week high

Palladium prices tilted higher in American trade away from July 24 lows, as the dollar index scaled July 20 highs, following earlier employment and factory orders data from the US today. 

As of 01:29 GMT, palladium rose 0.55% to $925.09 an ounce off over week lows, while the dollar index rose 0.27% against a basket of major rivals to 94.92, marking two-week highs. 

Earlier US data showed unemployment claims rose a thousand to 218 thousand from 217 thousand, while continuing claims fell 23 thousand in the week ending July 21 to 1.724 million from 1.747 million, confounding expectations of 1.750 million

Factory orders rose 0.7% in June as expected, up from 0.4% in May.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted yesterday to maintain overnight interest rates unchanged between 1.75% and 2.00% as expected, while laying the groundwork for two more rate hikes this year, mainly in September and December, as the US economy continues to expand and inflation hovers around 2%.