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Palladium declines under pressure from stronger dollar, global demand concerns
AI Summary
- Palladium prices fell due to a stronger U.S. dollar and concerns over weaker demand for metals
- Weak economic data from China, including low industrial production and rising unemployment, raised concerns about Chinese demand
- Ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continues to impact markets, with Russia being a major palladium producer
Palladium prices fell during Wednesday’s trading amid a stronger U.S. dollar against most major currencies, as well as concerns over weaker demand for metals due to the impact of tariffs.
This comes as weak economic data continued to emerge from China last week. August figures showed that industrial production, retail sales, and fixed-asset investment all grew below expectations. The unemployment rate also unexpectedly rose to 5.3%.
These data followed soft inflation figures from China just days earlier, which confirmed persistent disinflationary pressures in the world’s second-largest economy, raising further concerns about Chinese demand.
Separately, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continues to cast a shadow over markets, particularly metals, with Moscow being one of the world’s largest palladium producers.
U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged today that ending the Russia-Ukraine war is difficult under current conditions, adding that he was disappointed in President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index rose by 0.6% to 97.8 points as of 15:03 GMT, recording a high of 97.9 and a low of 97.2.
In trading, December palladium futures dropped 1.3% to $1,236.1 an ounce as of 15:03 GMT.
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