Palladium Price - A Harbinger For Precious Metals

London (Aug 26)  When it comes to the precious metals sector, the leader since the beginning of 2016 has been the metal that receives the least amount of attention from the financial press and most market participants. During the second week of January 2016, the price of palladium fell to the lowest level since August 2010 when it traded at $451.50 per ounce. Since then, the industrial precious metal has done little but rally. The vast majority of palladium production in the world comes from Russia and South Africa. In Russia, the output is a byproduct of another industrial metal, nickel. In 2016, palladium registered a 21% gain. In Q1 of 2017, palladium added another 17.5% to its price and in the second quarter of this year, it rallied by another 4.8%. Palladium closed at the end of Q2 at $836.65 per ounce, and as of the close of business on Friday, August 25, it was trading $931, another 11.3% higher than the price on June 30.

Palladium is the least liquid precious metal that trades on the futures exchange with the smallest open interest and lowest trading volume. However, palladium has been a bullish beast for the past one and three-quarter years. It has led all of the other precious metals on a percentage basis and could prove to be a harbinger for the rest of the sector. The prices of gold, silver, and even platinum could soon follow the bullish path of the industrial precious metal that has shined brightest.

Palladium breaks the hurdle on its way to an all-time high

The price of nearby NYMEX palladium futures first traded above $900 per ounce at the beginning of June which was the first time the precious metal reached the lofty level since September 2014. Palladium spent the period from June through early August trading in a range from $825 to $900, probing above the level on several occasions.

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