Palladium prices fell on Thursday, due to growing fears of the coronavirus pandemic as the US dollar steadied against most of its peers.

The number of coronavirus infections in the US rose to the highest level sine February at 72,000 cases yesterday.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to cast its shadows on global markets, especially in the US and Europe, after the new highly transmissible delta strain emerged in India.

Members of the US Federals Reserve warned of the impact of this change in events on the recovery of the economy, especially after the highly transmible delta variant emerged.

The dollar index held against a basket of major currencies at 92.2 points as of 14:01 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.3 points and a low of 92.1 points.

Palladium September futures rose 0.1% to $2,650 an ounce as of 14:01 GMT.

US stock indices rose on Thursday, after the release of upbeat economic data, with continued focus on latest updates regarding the pandemic.

Data showed that the US unemployment claims were at 385K last week, better than the previous reading of 399K, and near forecasts of 382K, .

The US trade deficit rose to $75.7 in July, missing forecasts of $74.2 billion.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to cast its shadows on global markets, especially in the US and Europe, after the new highly transmissible delta strain emerged in India.

The number of coronavirus infections in the US rose to a 6-month high at 100,000 cases yesterday.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.5% or 160 points to 34,953 as of 14:17 GMT, and S&P 500 rose 0.3% or 15 points to 4,417, while Nasdaq rose 0.3% or 54 points to 14,834.

Oil prices fell on Thursday, deepening losses for the fourth straight day, and hit a 2-week low, following an unexpected build in the US crude inventories, which sparked concerns over a slowdown in the US demand.

US crude fell 0.6% to the lowest since July 21 at $67.63, after opening at $68.03, and hit a day high at $68.68, and Brent crude fell 0.75% to $69.77, after opening at $70.29, and hit a day high at $71.00.

US crude lost 3.1% yesterday, and Brent crude futures fell 2.7%, in the third straight daily loss, after the EIA's weekly report.

The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that the US crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels to 439.2 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 3.2 million barrels.

The total US commercial inventories rose to a 1-month high at 439.18 million barrels, which renewed concerns over the US demand levels.

While the US output remained unchanged last week, with the total at 11.2 million barrels per day.

A survey by Reuters showed that OPEC's oil output rose in July to the highest level since April 2020, following OPEC-Plus decision to ease output restrictions, and after Saudi Arabia gradually canceled its voluntary production cut.

At 12:30 GMT, the US Department of Labor showed that the unemployment claims were at 385K during the week ending in July 30, near forecasts of 382K, and better than the previous reading of 400K. This data is positive for the US dollar.